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Nov 09, 2023

Reddit blackout: Why are subreddits protesting to save third

Large parts of Reddit will go dark next week in protest of the site’s new data

Large parts of Reddit will go dark next week in protest of the site's new data paywall.

At the time of writing, more than 430 Reddit communities, known as subreddits, have confirmed they will participate in the blackout. They include four subreddits with more than 20 million followers each, and dozens more with over one million members.

Redditors are incensed about the company's plans to charge sky-high fees for access to its data. They say the new pricing structure will kill a whole host of third-party apps that let Reddit users view and interact with the platform.

As part of the protest, many subreddits claim they will go offline for 48 hours, though some are threatening to go away permanently if their demands aren't met.

The revolt against Reddit started gaining traction after a popular app developer said last Wednesday that the company's new pricing structure for access to its data would kill his software.

Christian Selig, developer of the Apollo app, which is used by 900,000 people every day to browse Reddit, said the social media company wants to charge him $20 million (£16 m) a year for access to its data-sharing software.

"It goes without saying that I don't have that kind of money or would even know how to charge it to a credit card," Selig said in a viral Reddit post.

The independent developer was pointing to plans Reddit announced in April, to charge more for its application programming interface (API). This is the software used by app makers to harness the social platform's data, including posts and comments.

Twitter was widely panned for enacting a similar policy earlier this year that shut out developers and researchers from its valuable data, resulting in the demise of several third-party apps.

Reddit's decision to cash in on its API comes as the company is preparing to file for an initial public offering (IPO) later this year. Reddit mainly makes bank from digital advertising, but has struggled to monetise its user base. It also began offering a subscription service in 2020, long before the likes of Twitter and Instagram jumped on the bandwagon.

In a nutshell, if the protest goes ahead, many subreddits will stop users from sharing content for at least 48 hours. If Reddit doesn't announce a reversal of its policy by June 14, the subreddits are promising to take "further action."

Several of the site's biggest visual forums are taking part in the blackout, among them r/EarthPorn, r/videos, and r/aww — where you can view jaw-dropping landscape pics, viral clips, and cute photos of animals and babies, respectively. The r/aww subreddit alone has more than 34 million followers.

Other communities dedicated to video games, smartphones, anime, music, and countries are also participating in the sweeping protest. You can view the full list of protesting subreddits here.

A week is a long time in the world of social media, so you can expect more subreddits to join the movement as the big date draws closer.

The people who moderate those forums claim Reddit's API policy poses an existential threat to "beloved third-party mobile apps," including Apollo, Narwhal, and Reddit is Fun.

Broadly speaking, unofficial apps for popular services, such as Twitter or Reddit, give users more ways to interact with those platforms.

This can range from innovative features that aren't available on official apps or more customisation tools. Some also provide a throwback experience free from divisive design changes and updates.

In addition, subreddit moderators say they rely on third-party tools to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.