WASHINGTON (AP) — This week, thousands of Reddit discussion forums shut down in protest of a new policy that requires some third-party apps to pay for access to data on the site. This has raised concerns about content moderation and data accessibility on the platform.
“Reddit is killing third-party applications (and itself),” read posts across multiple subreddits on the platform’s homepage this week.
The new fees are a part of broader changes that Reddit has made to its application programming interface (API) recently.
The organizers of the blackout, which began on Monday, argue that Reddit’s new changes threaten to eliminate critical methods of customizing the platform.
These methods have relied heavily on the efforts of volunteer moderators. Subreddit moderators often use tools outside of the official app to eliminate spam and hateful content on their forums while improving accessibility.
As per a boycott tracker, nearly 9,000 subreddits went dark this week, with more than 4,000 remaining offline as of Friday, including communities with tens of millions of subscribers such as r/music and r/videos.
While some subreddits returned to their public state after 48 hours, others have pledged to remain private indefinitely until Reddit fulfills their requests.
Despite the blackout by thousands of subreddits and calls from users, Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman has stated that the company will not change its stance.
Huffman claims that the cost of supporting high-usage third-party developers to access its data is too high.
Additionally, the company has noted that the new fees will only be levied on eligible apps that require high usage limits and that the majority of API users will not have to pay for access.
This is what you should know about the situation.
WHAT IS API? AND HOW IS REDDIT CHANGING ACCESS TO THIRD-PARTY APPS?
In short, an API is a set of tools and protocols that enable different computer programs to communicate with one another. Third-party developers have previously used Reddit’s free API to request data from the platform and create apps that function with it.
Earlier this year, Reddit announced that it would be changing its API access policies. The new policy states that third-party apps requiring higher usage limits will be charged by Reddit. These changes were set to come into effect from July 1.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Huffman stated that running a platform like Reddit is expensive, citing the millions of dollars the company spends to support high-usage third-party apps.
He added that he wants to make Reddit a self-sustaining company that can endure into the future. For this reason, the company is implementing the new policy.
However, Reddit also clarified that not all third-party apps will be charged, as the policy will depend on usage levels. Additionally, some non-commercial accessibility-focused apps would still have free access
WHY ARE SUBREDDITS PROTESTING THIS CHANGE?
The recent changes to Reddit’s API have triggered an uproar among Redditors, who fear losing access to third-party resources they’ve been relying on for years. Some of the most widely used third-party apps, such as Apollo and Reddit Is Fun, have already disclosed plans to close down by the end of the month due to the high costs of adapting to the API changes.
According to Christian Selig, the developer of Apollo, the estimated fees would amount to around $20 million per year.
Reddit’s backbone of volunteer moderators who rely on these and similar apps will likely feel the brunt of the impacts, experts note.
“While Reddit has promised that moderation tools will not be affected by changes to the API, many moderators rely on third party apps and access to data archives to effectively do their work,” Sarah Gilbert, postdoctoral associate at Cornell University and Citizens and Technology Lab research manager, said in a statement — later pointing to how risks of moderator burnout and essential retention.
Gilbert added that API access helps moderators keep communities safe and “more quickly respond to spam, bigotry, and harassment.” Third-party apps are also important for screen readers, she said, as the official Reddit app is not accessible for people who are visually impaired.
WHEN WILL THE REDDIT BLACKOUT END?
While some subreddits that participated in this week’s blackout returned to Reddit within 48 hours, others have indicated that their protest is ongoing until Reddit meets their demands.
These demands include reducing the API charges for high-usage third-party developers, allowing popular apps to stay alive. However, CEO Steve Huffman has stated that he’s not budging on this issue, and he’s made it clear that subreddits participating in the blackout will not stay offline indefinitely.
This decision has further fueled outrage among protestors, prompting them to call on Reddit to pause these changes and explore new paths forward that can benefit all Reddit users. Twitter also ended its free API access earlier this year, causing similar outrage.