Subreddits Rally Together in Protest Against API Changes

Numerous Reddit subreddits have banded together in solidarity, going dark and setting themselves to private as a strong protest against recent API changes. This unprecedented move aims to draw attention to the community's concerns and send a powerful message to the platform's management.

According to Down Detector, the site also experienced a blackout this morning though there was no mention if the two were related.


The protest comes in response to Reddit's decision to implement significant API changes, including changes in user rights as well as announcing will start charging developers for access to its API service. As of July 1, a developer will cost $0.24 per 1000 API calls. Reddit says this change will help combat and offset the costs of Generative AI companies like Bing, ChatGPT, and Bard from scraping their data. These programs train their responses based on website content - just like search engines- from posts on sites like Twitter, Reddit, and even MajorGeeks; however, where search engines tend to credit a source and direct traffic to the source of information providing users ad revenue -- generative AI does not. This issue of digesting content for free is a significant problem facing the management of content companies.

Adding up to millions in costs. Popular Reeddit apps like Apollo have announced plans to shut down on June 30th due to costs. (in this case, from 0 to 20 million per year... OUCH!)

Apollo will close down on June 30th. Reddit’s recent decisions and actions have unfortunately made it impossible for Apollo to continue. Thank you so, so much for all the support over the years. ❤️ https://t.co/HOJaLMW8fx

— Christian Selig (@ChristianSelig) June 8, 2023

Subreddit moderators, representing various topics and interests, have voiced their frustration over the lack of transparency and consultation in decision-making.

With subreddits spanning from technology and gaming to movies and science, this collective act of going dark the move has captured the attention of even non-Reddit users worldwide. The moderators behind this movement firmly believe that their protest is essential to safeguard the autonomy and integrity of their subreddits. By withdrawing their platforms from public view, they hope to spur meaningful dialogue and encourage Reddit's management to reconsider the API changes.

As of writing, over 8400 subreddits have gone dark. You can track closings like at this the Reddark_247 Twitch Channel. (You can live stream anything these days!)

As the Reddit protest gains momentum, it remains to be seen how the platform's management will respond to the concerns raised by its dedicated users and moderators. They are in a tough spot damned if they allow Generative AI unfettered access to their platform and eventual loss of user base and content - or dammed by the loss of user base because the free creative content creators they have left in protest and the free app creators have gone belly up.