The great Reddit blackout may be fading but the protest hasn’t ended. Some subreddits have found a new way to protest the company’s API changes and subsequent treatment of third-party app developers and moderators. They have classified themselves as NSFW (not safe for work) and are welcoming adult content to their communities. Reddit has responded by removing moderators of some of those subreddits.
More than 8,000 subreddits went dark last week in protest against the company’s newly-introduced API charges. Reddit is putting its APIs behind a paywall so it could monetize its data, which tech companies are using to train their generative AI tools. But the money it is asking for is too much for third-party Reddit apps that rely on those APIs to operate. Effectively, most of those apps are shutting down. The new API updates also break some moderation tools.
The Reddit community isn’t happy about it. They launched a mass protest on June 12, putting thousands of subreddits private. Originally planned to be a 48-hour blackout, the protest was extended indefinitely after Reddit CEO Steve Huffman publicly lashed out at some developers. He also labeled the protest as a “noise” that will eventually pass. Huffman told Reddit employees that the blackout doesn’t affect the company’s revenue much, so no need to worry.
Later, Reddit threatened to remove moderators from subreddits that continue the protest. Many subreddits have since reopened to the public, though around 3,000 of them are still private. But turns out some of them reopened only to protest in a new way. By allowing NSFW content in their communities, these subreddits may be able to make a bigger dent in Reddit’s revenue. That’s because NSFW subreddits are not eligible for advertising.
Reddit communities are trying to rob the company of ad revenue
According to The Verge, r/interestingasfuck, r/TIHI (Thanks, I Hate It), r/ShittyLifeProTips, and r/mildlyinteresting are among some of the biggest subreddits now classified as NSFW. Many of them are filled with pornographic content. Reddit, meanwhile, has responded by removing or suspending the moderators of these subreddits. A few of them have been since reinstated, but others remain suspended or completely stripped of their moderation roles.
Despite the continued protest, Reddit doesn’t seem to be willing to walk back its API updates. The company certainly has merit in charging money for its data. But it has shown no signs of leniency towards developers who have been forced to shut down their years-long projects. “It’s a small group that’s very upset, and there’s no way around that. We made a business decision that upset them,” Huffman said in an interview with NPR last week.