Reddit has released the most 'upvoted' posts of 2019, and it shows how much trolling is part of the platform's culture

However, commenters were quick to point out that the tradition is an old one with less romantic roots. It stems from the days when marriages acted as business deals and women were seen as property, and the bride and groom frequently didn't meet until the wedding itself.

Responses to the post didn't disappoint: Hundreds of users responded with their own potty-mouthed jokes and puns.

In general, gaming is a massively popular section of Reddit, so it's no surprise that this video-game-themed cartoon garnered so much attention. According to Reddit, the top 50 gaming communities have seen a 42% growth in subscribers since last year. This year, the most active gaming subreddit was r/fortnitebr for discussing anything and everything related to the massively popular Battle Royale-style video game.

The Chinese government's bloody crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square resulted in one of the most iconic photos ever taken: a protester blocking the path of a massive military tank entering the square. As China worked to suppress news of its violent response to the protests, the photo emerged as — and has since remained — a symbol of truth and resistance in the face of the Chinese government's authoritarian regime and attempt to censor the internet behind its "Great Firewall."

It's no surprise, then, that the photo was employed by a Reddit user earlier this year to level accusations of censorship against the platform. TechCrunch reported in February that Reddit had secured a new round of funding, including $150 million from the massive Chinese investment firm Tencent. Tencent runs some of the biggest social platforms in China, and has adhered to the government's strict censorship demands.

Immediately, Reddit users responded with criticism of the platform for accepting money from a company in China, where Reddit is blocked, and raised concern that Tencent would be able to censor content posted on the platform. Although it's highly unlikely Tencent will have any say in what's posted to Reddit, users flooded the platform with content that would be censored in China, including Winnie the Pooh memes mocking China's president and pictures from Tienanmen Square.

For its part, Reddit helped to assuage censorship concerns by letting the Tienanmen Square post be officially dubbed the most-upvoted Reddit post of 2019. But the post's massive popularity in itself shows just how much the core Reddit community prides itself on being the biggest and loudest trolls across the internet.

Past moves by Reddit to remove harmful and controversial content from its site have been met with incessant trolling and backlash from the the most ardent users, who argue the platform is a lawless place where free speech reigns supreme.