Reddit communities protest differently as the company threatens moderators

Multiple subreddits are protesting by publishing only one type of post, changing the topic, or going private.

Many of these communities participated in the June 12-14 Reddit blackout to protest the API rule changes that could kill many third-party apps. Subreddits considered shutting down after the company and CEO Steve Huffman refused to change.

Reddit said moderators must keep the community open. They also need a vote to close their community. The company even warned moderators that they would be fired if they participated in the blackout.

Multiple communities are polling what posts are allowed on the subreddit to circumvent the moderator removal. They’re also relaxing some rules, making moderators’ jobs harder by taking away some tools.

The biggest communities like r/pics, r/aww, and r/GIF posted John Oliver photos and GIFs. Oliver tweeted his consent.

Dear Reddit, excellent work. Attn: r/pics — have at it…

— John Oliver (@iamjohnoliver) June 17, 2023

r/aww allows Chiijohn photos. r/iPhone posted photos of “dashing” Tim Cook.

Some protests are bizarre:

• r/Shitposting banned posts with the letter k.
• r/Wellthatsucks is now a subreddit about vacuum cleaners.
• r/Nofans is now a passive PC cooler subreddit.
• r/Interestingasfuck removed a lot of all rules apart from asking members to not break site-wide rules.
• r/Memes is allowing only Medieval / Landed Gentry memes. This is in response to Huffman’s “Landed Gentry” comment about protesting subreddits.
• r/PokemonGo is now allowing pictures of John Oliver, Pikachu, or Spark.
• r/Horny is now a “Christian Minecraft server.”
• r/Steam members are posting about actual steam.
• r/HarryPotter is now referring to Huffman as Voldemort.
• Some subreddits such as r/Showerthoughts are determining close days for the community.

These methods are novel and entertaining, but Reddit management may resist. Huffman strongly defended the company’s API rule changes and said it wants to be profitable in recent interviews. He also claimed that these protests were led by a “small group that’s very upset” and didn’t affect company revenues. Communities are using public votes to show that Reddit’s changes are unpopular.

Subreddit moderators and Reddit employees can contact the reporter at im@ivanmehta.com to discuss the ongoing situations.

These methods are novel and entertaining, but Reddit management may resist. Huffman strongly defended the company’s API rule changes and said it wants to be profitable in recent interviews. He also claimed that these protests were led by a “small group that’s very upset” and didn’t affect company revenues. Communities are using public votes to show that Reddit’s changes are unpopular.

Subreddit moderators and Reddit employees can contact the reporter at im@ivanmehta.com to discuss the ongoing situations.