Reddit API Protest Re-Escalates With More NSFW

Reddit API Pricing Protest Continues

Reddit API Protest: NSFW Content Escalates

Yesterday, r/pics an enormous community with more than 30 million engaged in it, was formally marked NSFW (unsafe for work), meaning Reddit is not in a position to show advertisements alongside posts appearing within the subreddit. It's more than that. r/gifs and r/Aww are NSFW too. Even if there is no adult content to be seen, users who indicated their age as under 18, cannot view these subreddits by the terms. It greatly reduces the visibility of the data very like going private. Whereas, Reddit CEO originally downplayed the protest initially with the memo warning it was not appropriate, Reddit is now removing mods.

It is the latest iteration of the protest that began in mid-June, when 6,500 subreddits required part inside a blackout to protest Reddit's intends to charge for API (application programming interface) access. Redditors are angry concerning the Twitter-like changes, that have now brought to 3rd-party Reddit apps like Apollo and Baconreader to shut down permanently. These apps were the preferred means of interacting with Reddit.

"Because the blackout, numerous large subreddits have ongoing to protest Reddit's changes in a number of creative ways. r/pics opted to visit lower a really John Oliver-focused route, first only allowing pictures of the comedian and A Week Ago Tonight location of be shared around the sub after which amending their very own rules to ensure that any media featuring Oliver including erotic NSFW fan fiction that might be published" (from Mashable).

Recently, the moderators of r/pics shared a post addressing the issue of profanity within the subreddit. They humorously urged the community not to swear in their posts to avoid marking the subreddit as NSFW (Not Safe for Work) and potentially losing advertising revenue for Reddit.

The post emphasized that marking r/pics as NSFW would make the subreddit less discoverable, remove it from Reddit's main feeds, and affect the visibility of posts, including content related to John Oliver. It also highlighted the potential impact on advertising revenue and expressed concerns about fairness.

The wording of the post is significant because Reddit has previously taken action against moderators who marked their communities as NSFW as a form of protest. The moderators of r/pics made it clear that they would not mark their subreddit as NSFW as a protest, stating that such a change would only be made to comply with Reddit's policies. They also noted that removing moderators from r/pics would contradict Reddit's Moderator Code of Conduct.

As a result of the protest, r/pics officially marked itself as NSFW on Monday. Other subreddits have also been participating in their own forms of protest. For example, r/videos now requires posts to include text descriptions of the videos, while r/funny has pinned an open letter to Reddit at the top of their subreddit.

The ongoing protest against Reddit's API changes by popular subreddits has taken a NSFW turn with r/pics making this symbolic gesture. By marking themselves as NSFW, the subreddit aims to highlight the potential consequences of the changes, such as the inability to display Reddit's ads alongside posts.

Reddit Moderator Removal Amid Subreddits Blackout

This protest initially began in mid-June when thousands of subreddits participated in a blackout to voice their opposition to Reddit's plans to charge for API access. Redditors are unhappy with these changes, as they have resulted in the closure of third-party apps like Apollo due to the associated fees. Since the blackout, various large subreddits have continued to protest in different creative ways. Reddit has responded by removing moderators.

In the case of r/pics, their protest focused on John Oliver. Initially, only content related to the comedian and A Week Tonight show was allowed on the subreddit. Later, the rules were modified to permit the posting of any media featuring Oliver, including erotic fan fiction.

Reddit is not the only social media company pacing public scrutiny. Several Twitter clones like Meta's Threads which debuts on July 6th, ex-CEO Jack Dorsey's Bluesky, and the black Twitter, Spill are receiving attention in light of platforms' difficulty in pleasing everyone. Musk recently announced view limits on tweets due to exorbitant scraping of Twitter data by corporations. TweetDeck, a popular third-party app (originally designed by Twitter) arranges columns of tweets into separate columns of feeds is reportedly falling apart.

Here Are A Few Examples of Subreddits in NSFW Content Protest:

1. r/pics: This subreddit, with over 30 million members, officially marked itself as NSFW to prevent advertisements from appearing alongside its posts. It is still marked NSFW at the time of publication.
2. r/formula1: This subreddit also switched to NSFW status as a protest. However, the moderators received messages from Reddit admin u/ModCodeOfConduct asking them to switch back to safe-for-work (SFW) status.
3. r/HomeKit and r/HomePod: These subreddits initially switched to NSFW, but the moderators decided to switch them back to SFW status after witnessing disciplinary actions against moderators of larger subreddits.
4. r/Celebrities, r/interestingasfuck, r/mildlyinteresting, r/self, r/ShittyLifeProTips, r/TIHI, r/toyota, r/garmin, and r/IllegalLifeProTips: These subreddits also allowed NSFW content as part of the protest. Reddit later removed and suspended some of the moderators of these subreddits.

Please note that the list above is not exhaustive, and there might have been additional subreddits that went NSFW in protest. The situation is dynamic, and the status of subreddits may change over time.*

Reddit API Pricing Impact

The API, which began charging for use on July 1st, gave a flashing red light to the developer of Apollo, the most popular Reddit app. With the new changes, he would ill-afford the $20 million in fees projected and Apollo and other apps shutdown permanently, and subreddit community engagement is dropping fast. This is precipitated by and makes Reddit's chances for the $15Billion valuation they are seeking at IPO time far less realistic.