Reddit is serious about putting a stop to the API blackout protests that have crippled the network since last month.
Most subreddits have subsequently reopened, despite the company’s threats to remove moderators from protesting groups. Nonetheless, several have remained secret, barring visitors and preventing users from publishing. Now Reddit is following through on its threats.
According to The Verge, who talked with the now-former mods, Reddit has recently expelled the moderators at??r/malefashionadvice for refusing to reopen the topic. r/malefashionadvice looks to be the largest subreddit that the corporation has seized control of as a result of the API blackout protests, with over 5 million subscribers. The demonstrations were supposed to last two days, but some subreddits have been going on for weeks.
The only mod at??r/malefashionadvicenow is “modcodeofconduct,” a company-run Reddit account designed to handle the transfer of subreddit moderator credentials.
The account is also named as the moderator on a number of subreddits, providing insight into other communities that the corporation has taken over from prior moderators. Reddit currently controls two other huge subreddits, r/homeautomation and r/ShittyLifeProTips, which have over two million and one and a half million users, respectively. The account modcodeofconduct presently manages 11 subreddits of varied size. Yet, throughout the last week, the account has posted in 14 separate subreddits in search of new moderators for each community, implying that some of these groups have now reopened with new moderators.
According to Reddark, a few prominent subreddits are still in restricted status as a result of the API complaints. It’s uncertain how long the mod teams in control of such groups will be in charge as Reddit cracks down.
But, just because the original blackout demonstrations have been suspended does not mean that Redditors have stopped expressing their unhappiness with the corporation. Members of r/aww and r/pics, two subreddits with over 30 million subscribers each, for example, continue with a new protest action: filling the subreddits with only postings of photographs of comedian John Oliver, according to Reddark. Several Redditors have taken their protest message to r/newly Place’s revived open pixel art canvas.
These Reddit rallies are in response to recent corporate choices made by CEO Steve Huffman. The protest is centred on Reddit’s new premium API plans, which have priced out several popular third-party apps, causing them to close.