The top mod of that sub was also given a custom "Pimp Daddy" award by reddit. So that combined with spez being listed as a mod makes me think this absolutely was something he was in on. That same top mod who got the award also modded /r/creepshots and a bunch of other problematic subreddits.
He was in on it in the sense that he knew what was going on and more than looking the other way was happy to encourage it for the traffic it brought. I don't believe that he was doing the internet janitor work of being a mod nor was it particularly significant to be listed as a mod.
The top mod of that sub was also given a custom "Pimp Daddy" award by reddit. So that combined with spez being listed as a mod makes me think this absolutely was something he was in on. That same top mod who got the award also modded /r/creepshots and a bunch of other problematic subreddits.
He was in on it in the sense that he knew what was going on and more than looking the other way was happy to encourage it for the traffic it brought. I don't believe that he was doing the internet janitor work of being a mod nor was it particularly significant to be listed as a mod.