Subreddits Rally to Protest Reddit’s API Changes by Allowing Porn Content

Although many subreddits that went offline to protest the website’s API modifications are now back up and running, some moderators are still demonstrating against the changes on the platform. According to The Verge, a few well-known subreddits that previously banned porn are now permitting users to post NSFW or Not Safe For Work content. These communities include r/interestingasfuck, r/TIHI (Thanks, I Hate It), r/mildlyinteresting, and r/videos.

In the case of r/TIHI, for example, a pinned post says the subreddit is removing a rule banning extreme NSFW content and now welcomes it as long as it’s legal under US law. A similar post on r/interestingasfuck lists smaller and less restrictive new rules, including marking whether or not a post is NSFW and banning sexual content for minors. Moderators have made sure Reddit can’t monetize them by allowing their signatures to fill up with posts that aren’t considered safe for work. NSFW subreddits have not been eligible for ad targeting for years, and the website also does not allow ads for adult products.

Reddit’s response to the situation has been swift, with administrators reportedly removing entire moderation teams from communities that have designated themselves as NSFW. If you look at the r/interestingasfuck and r/TIHI subreddits, you’ll see that their moderator boxes are empty except for a note that says “This subreddit is not moderated. Request it at r/redditrequest.” Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told The Verge, “Moderators are mislabeling a community as NSFW, which violates both our content policy and the moderator code of conduct.”

The other subreddits mentioned now have a full moderator team and no longer have explicit posts. It is unclear whether the mods themselves decided to return to normal programming or were forced to do so. Several r/Mild Interest Moderators told the publication that while it’s true that a Reddit admin banned them from their subreddits, another admin reinstated them. Said administrator also overturned the seven-day ban he received.

All of these events were due to Reddit’s decision to start charging for its API. Reddit initially targeted companies that searched the website for content used to train large language models for generative artificial intelligence, but its decision also affects thousands of third-party clients and apps connected to the platform, including apps with moderation tools. Thousands of communities resisted the change by setting their signatures to private and making them unusable.

However, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman was unfazed by the protest, telling NPR: “It’s a small group that is very upset and there’s no getting around it. We made a business decision that upset them.” He also told NBC News that he plans to make it easier for regular users to vote on moderators based on their decisions. A company representative echoed that sentiment in a post on the website, adding: “If the moderator team unanimously decides to stop moderating, we will invite new, active moderators to keep these spaces open and accessible to users.”