In a significant development, Reddit, famously known as the "front page of the internet," is making headlines as moderators from various communities within the platform have taken a stand against recent changes introduced by the company.
In protest, many of the platform's largest forums, called subreddits, such as r/pics, r/gaming, and r/music, have made their communities private or restricted. This action is in response to the forthcoming changes that would charge third-party apps for accessing Reddit's content, potentially leading to the shutdown of these applications, as argued by third-party developers.
The changes, scheduled to take effect on July 1, involve charging external applications for accessing Reddit's content, which was previously available for free. The protest extends beyond the United States, as numerous Canadian subreddits, including r/Canada, r/OnGuardForThee, and various province- and city-focused spaces, have also joined the cause.
During the blackout, users trying to access participating subreddits may encounter messages indicating that the community has gone private, preventing public viewing and commenting. Other subreddits have imposed posting restrictions while allowing content viewing.
However, certain communities, such as r/politics, r/news, and r/worldnews, remain active and accessible to users.
The scale of the blackout caused a temporary Reddit outage earlier today, with a Reddit spokesperson confirming that "a significant number of subreddits shifting to private caused some expected stability issues."
The impending changes would require developers to pay for access to Reddit's Application Programming Interface (API), which allows them to create their own applications using Reddit's information. This includes features like retrieving post lists and comments from specific subreddits.
However, developers and users with specific accessibility needs heavily rely on these third-party applications, as they provide alternative ways to navigate and moderate the site effectively.
One notable case is Christian Selig, the developer behind the popular iOS app Apollo, who announced on Twitter that his app would be forced to shut down by the end of the month due to the changes. Many moderators depend on Apollo to manage their communities and ensure consistent and safe content flow.
Additionally, Apollo caters to blind or low-vision users by prioritizing screen-reader compatibility, an aspect lacking in the official Reddit app.
Selig calculated that the proposed API changes would cost him an average of $2.50 US per active user per month, making it financially unsustainable to continue offering the app for free to his 750,000 monthly users. Even if he were to charge $1 US per month, the majority of his paying customers, he would still incur losses.
In a passionate Reddit post, Selig revealed that his app generated seven billion requests last month. With the new API pricing, he estimated that he would have to pay over $2 million US each month to maintain access for all his users.
Developers were given only one month's notice about the changes, leaving them insufficient time to adapt or monetize their apps accordingly.
Reddit contends that it incurs "multi-millions of dollars on hosting fees" and needs fair compensation to support high-usage third-party apps. The company also states that Apollo is less efficient than other third-party apps and that no changes are planned for the announced API updates.
Canadian activist and author Cory Doctorow sees the blackout as a consequence of large social media companies prioritizing profit over user experience. He highlights the heavy reliance of moderation teams on third-party applications and the lack of comparable tools provided by Reddit to ensure forum safety.
The protest reflects concerns beyond the immediate consequences for Reddit, as it represents a broader struggle for the platform's future. Supporters of the blackout understand the potential loss and believe it is better to take decisive action now to save the platform and hold the company accountable for its decisions, rather than witnessing a gradual decline.
While the community's protest has gained significant attention, the ultimate outcome and resolution of the issue remain uncertain.