So, why on earth are similarly 'offensive' repositories like https://github.com/meh/retarded (may be NSFW based on language) still available? This seems either a very selective policy, or there is something else going on beyond the mere use of the word 'Retard' here.
I found the example above with a simple Google search, and I'm sure there are many more that can be picked out, depending on the choice of obscenity or slur; so it seems like GitHub could be policing this fairly easily and automatically if desired (modulo obvious issues with false positives). Is it perhaps more likely that this is in response to a third party notifying them about the repo?
'retarded' in this sense could easily be due to someone's poor command of English. In this case, the use of 'faggotry' in commits makes it clear that it's not but it's not obvious from first glance.
It's clear that GitHub aren't embarking on a mass censorship campaign (probably because it's expensive), but "WebM for retards" and "you retard" aren't open for interpretation, even from a brief glance.
Like every site, GitHub acts under safe harbour. It can't and doesn't police every piece of content uploaded. But it can respond to reports. That's what's happened here.
I found the example above with a simple Google search, and I'm sure there are many more that can be picked out, depending on the choice of obscenity or slur; so it seems like GitHub could be policing this fairly easily and automatically if desired (modulo obvious issues with false positives). Is it perhaps more likely that this is in response to a third party notifying them about the repo?