Reddit communities disabled in protest against platform’s management

Many Reddit boards are currently disabled today in protest against the platform’s management.

The issue centers on Reddit’s adoption of fees for independent app developers, which are widely utilized to browse the website.

As a protest against these changes, moderators from some of the most popular subreddits will privatise their communities for 48 hours, rendering around 3,500 subreddits unavailable.

Reddit is primarily reliant on community moderation, with unpaid moderators known as’mods’ devoting hours each day to keeping subreddits operational.

While Reddit does not charge hosting costs for specialty community creation, CEO Steve Huffman recently stated that the network must be a “self-sustaining business.”

Huffman acknowledged the users’ right to take action and emphasized the importance of open and accessible spaces. However, explicit content will be restricted to third-party apps.

Local subreddits like r/northernireland and r/ireland, with substantial subscriber numbers of over 600,000 subscribers, will also participate. The protest aims to demonstrate “strength in numbers” and exert greater pressure on Reddit.

The protest stems from Reddit’s introduction of charges for developers using its API (Application Programming Interface), which facilitates third-party app functionality. As a result, popular apps like Apollo, Reddit is Fun, Sync, and ReddPlanet have announced their shutdown.

Critics argue that the charges are exorbitant, while Reddit defends them as necessary for sustainability and reflecting usage levels.

While the blackout was initially planned for 48 hours, some subreddits may extend or continue the protest until Reddit reverses its policy. Communities like r/Music have already announced indefinite inaccessibility until their concerns are addressed.