I find it unsettling for a few reasons.

First off, the formalities. I don't endorse being judgmental towards my fellow fat guys, and it is wrong to harass and belittle somebody because of their weight. It is a mark of tremendous immaturity and I hope those who participate in such toxic behavior eventually mature and realize how inappropriate their candor is.

That being said.

First off, I don't like the precedent it sets that the only way we can combat harassment is to put a lid on it. It makes it seem that we are weak, we cannot stand up for ourselves, that we have very thin skin, and that the only way we know how to solve problems is to legislate it all away.

Secondly, I don't like the fact it gives their participants a reason to unify against a common "enemy." By banning the subreddit, we have given them vindication. The persecution is now going both ways. It used to be that they'd spew a lot of garbage, and since it only went one direction, it was easy to discard them as the vitriolic disappointments they are. But now they have a reason to go on the defensive, and now it's harder to cast it off as juvenile bullying when they now see their "free speech" as being infringed. I know, no free speech is actually being taken away, it's a dumb argument to make, but it's the dumb argument that is unifying them and making them stronger.

Thirdly, they will just make more communities to keep voicing their opinions, and make them in greater number. This is like the MPAA taking down torrenting websites. It doesn't remove the individual's necessity to utilize a particular service (whether it's pirating/venting), only the means in which they get that service. And with the necessity demanding a service, the services will be recreated by several sources that will aspire to be even bigger and better than the last one to fill the vacuum. This is exactly what happens when torrenting sites go down. This is what happens when any sort of prohibition is attempted. It doesn't make the problem go away. Like the brooms in Fantasia, the problem just augments and evolves to be harder to take down.

Fat People Hate is a real cesspool of filth. But it was its own cesspool. It was a gathering place where toxicity could billow and simmer within its own confines, and where judgmental children could release their petty frustrations. By taking away this outlet, it doesn't take away their frustrations. It just means they have to release it elsewhere. And now that we've given them a legitimate cause to wear the "victim" card, I'm afraid we're going to hear a lot of it. Especially because a lot of other much worse subreddits are still functioning normally.

For a little while at least.

Ultimately, an alternative will be formed, they'll all conglomerate en masse like before to squabble about us fat guys, and life will go on. I think the reaction is a bit overboard, this isn't the end of Reddit, and this will become old news before we know it.