On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced a policy change that will kill essentially every third-party Reddit app now operating, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader, leaving Reddit’s official mobile app as the only usable option; an app widely regarded as poor quality, not handicap-accessible, and very difficult to use for moderation.
In response, nearly nine thousand subreddits with a combined reach of hundreds of millions of users have made their outrage clear: we blacked out huge portions of Reddit, making national news many, many times over. in the process. What we want is crystal clear.
For that reason, /r/conspiracy, as well, joined the protest over the past 48 hours.
Over that period of time, Reddit has budged microscopically. The announcement that moderator access to the ‘Pushshift’ data-archiving tool would be restored was welcome. But a litany of core concerns still aren’t satisfied, and these concessions came prior to the blackout start date; Reddit has been silent since it began.
300+ subs have already announced that they are in it for the long haul, prepared to remain private or otherwise inaccessible indefinitely until Reddit provides an adequate solution. These include powerhouses like:
- /r/aww (34.1m)
- /r/music (32.3m)
- /r/videos (26.6m)
- /r/futurology (18.7m)
Such subreddits are the heart and soul of this effort, despite the fact that admins could – at any moment – attempt to intervene and stop the protests.
But more is needed for Reddit to act:
Huffman says the blackout hasn’t had “significant revenue impact” and that the company anticipates that many of the subreddits will come back online by Wednesday. “There’s a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we’ve seen. Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well,” the memo reads.
In light of the content of that leaked memo, /r/conspiracy has reopened in restricted mode to solicit user feedback on the state of reddit’s response to the past 48 hours.
There are a number of options on the table going forward – ranging from an indefinite protest pending concessions from reddit to weekly shutdowns – however pending further insight from the community the modteam has decided to forgo a decision for at least the next 12 hours.