Reddit Regulates Subreddit that Protested API Alterations

In accordance with its promise, Reddit has assumed control of subreddits that went offline in protest of modifications to the platform’s API. The administrator account u/ModCodeofConduct has now assumed full responsibility for r/malefashionadvice, a thriving community boasting over 5.4 million subscribers.

The subreddit joined thousands of others in shutting down in mid-June to show their opposition to the new API rules. Other subreddits allowed users to post porn in protest.

Third-party developers used the API to build thousands of apps that connect to Reddit. Many of their apps helped with moderation or accessibility. However, Reddit decided to start charging for the previously free API, forcing the developers of many popular apps to abandon their projects. The transcription community also shut down due to a “lack of trust” in the platform.

According to third-party data, Reddit’s traffic dropped significantly after the protest began. The company warned moderators who kept their subreddits private or read-only that it would replace them.

One of the former r/malefashionadvice mods told The Verge that Reddit removed their privileges on Thursday, which they had expected to happen. In a pinned post, u/ModCodeofConduct was looking for volunteers to take over the subreddit. The admin account has posted similar messages on other subreddits for which it is the sole current moderator, including r/AccidentalRenaissance (with over 925,000 subscribers) and r/ShittyLifeProTips (with 1.7 million subscribers).

“We are and have been following the moderator code of conduct. This is not new because of the protests,” a Reddit spokesperson told ReturnByte. According to its guidelines, Reddit considers a public community forever turned private to be “abandoned” and is looking for “new mods who want to revive it.” The spokesperson added that “we have a practice of reactivating private, high-subscriber communities that are ‘camped’.”

Meanwhile, Reddit this week resurrected r/place, a community art project that allows any user to place one pixel into a large mosaic every few minutes. Unsurprisingly, redditors are using it to call out the company and CEO Steve Huffman (aka u/spez). “Never forget what was stolen from you,” reads the mosaic’s message, which directs viewers to the r/Save3rdPartyApps community.