June 12, 2023
According to Reddark, a website that records protests, over 100 subreddits have gone dark in protest of Reddit’s upcoming API changes, and more are anticipated to follow suit. This outrage follows Reddit CEO Steve Huffman’s Ask Me Anything session, during which he was chastised and accused of cowardice by readers.
Christian Selig, Apollo’s developer, publicly accused Huffman of lying, while r/videos administrators judged his performance unacceptable. In reaction to these concerns, several subreddits have gone private as a form of protest, some for 48 hours and others forever. These demonstrations, coordinated by r/ModCoord, will continue until Reddit solves the following issues: API concerns, greater accessibility for visually impaired users, and equitable access to NSFW (Not Safe for Work) content.
One of the most common complaints is a lack of communication from Reddit’s leadership regarding the price adjustments and new API limits. Developers like Tony Lupeski of ReddPlanet have voiced dissatisfaction with the ban on third-party apps showing current NSFW content. Lupeski called Reddit’s leadership’s assertion of an open conversation with affected developers a “blatant lie.”
While Huffman admitted that the business began providing information in April, critics pointed out that the previous release lacked price specifics and neglected to mention the prohibition on third-party applications that display NSFW content.
The sources for this piece include an article in TheVerge.
