{"id":3719,"date":"2023-06-12T14:47:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T14:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/?p=3719"},"modified":"2023-06-12T14:47:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T14:47:23","slug":"reddit-blackout-how-did-we-get-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/index.php\/reddit-blackout-how-did-we-get-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Reddit blackout, how did we get here?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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June 12, 2023<\/span> \/Technology\/ \u2014\u00a0 On June 12, 2023, thousands of subreddits on Reddit went private in protest of the company’s new API pricing policy. The new policy, which was announced in April, charges third-party developers for using Reddit’s API. This has led to concerns that it will make it more difficult and expensive to develop third-party apps for Reddit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The protest was organized by a group of moderators on Reddit, who created a new subreddit called r\/Save3rdPartyApps. The subreddit quickly gained thousands of members, and moderators from popular subreddits began to announce that they would be going private in protest.<\/p>\n

In response to the protest, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman published a blog post defending the new API pricing policy. Huffman argued that the policy was necessary to ensure that Reddit can continue to invest in its infrastructure and features. He also said that Reddit would be working with developers to provide them with more flexibility and options for using the API.<\/p>\n

The protest is still ongoing, and it remains to be seen whether Reddit will make any changes to its API pricing policy. However, the protest has highlighted the importance of third-party apps for Reddit, and it has put pressure on the company to reconsider its policy.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the arguments made by the developers who are protesting against Reddit’s new API pricing policy:<\/p>\n