Many Reddit users aren't happy about the company's new API pricing, and they aren't sitting idly by to express that. The official date for the blackout protest hasn't even begun yet some have already gone dark to protest against the social site.
Reddit Users Escalate the Protest
June 12th marks the day that participating subreddits will go dark to protest the new API policy, but some communities have already started early on. In the following days, some of the Reddit groups you visit for its content may already be in private or read-only mode.
Popular forums such as r/LifeHacks, r/gaming, r/DIY, r/gadgets, r/Pics, and many more say that they will join the protest. You may be happy to know that some will return to normal after 48 hours, but others are showing solidarity by planning to go dark indefinitely.
The only time communities such as r/videos will return to full functionality is when Reddit decides to back out of its API policy changes, which the company stands firm on. This impasse could mean that you won't be seeing some of your favorite groups for a while.
Others also have specific demands, such as creating "parity in access to NSFW content, as reported by The Verge or improving accessibility for blind people. With that said, Reddit says that accessibility apps are exempted from the new pricing.
One person is taking the most hit in all the hate, specifically Steve Huffman, Reddit's CEO. During the Reddit AMA on Friday, the majority if not all of the commenters openly insulted the tech executive, with some even resorting to extreme language.
Moderators and third-party app developers alike said that they no longer trust the company's current leadership. Creator of the Reddit app Apollo, Christian Selig even accused the CEO of "blatantly lying" to the moderators in a phone call.
The Reddit AMA was meant to answer questions from users online to provide clarity about the situation, yet it has proven to make matters worse. Groups like r/iPhone originally intended to go dark for only 48 hours, but have now decided to do so indefinitely after Huffman's remarks.
The Current Situation of the Protest
As of today, large forums with more than a million members have gone private like r/food and r/gagdets with more than 20 million members each, as well as r/InstagramReality, r/perfectlycutscreams, and r/thalassaphobia with more than a million members.
Subreddits that have more than 30 million members such as r/aww, r/gaming, and r/todayilearned have gone private as well, according to Reddark, the website that displays the current status of the subreddits.
At the time of writing, there are over 3700 subreddits that have gone dark over a total of 6625. The combined subscriber count of the collective subreddits amount to 2.3 billion, with almost 26,000 unique moderators.
That means more than half of the subreddits, especially the ones with more than one million members, have joined the protest, which might just be enough to convince the Reddit CEO to take back his decision.
