Thousands of Major Subreddits Go Dark to Protest Reddit API Pricing
Over 7,000 Reddit communities with a combined 2.7 billion subscribers go private to protest new API access fees that threaten third-party apps. The widespread blackout already causes site outages as users fight back against the steep pricing changes.
Over 7,000 subreddits go private in a massive protest against Reddit's new API pricing structure, effectively removing communities with a combined 2.7 billion subscribers from public view. This coordinated blackout causes brief outages on the Reddit platform and shows significant user pushback against the company's recent monetization efforts.
Reddit implements these increased API fees to generate revenue from large AI companies that use Reddit data to train their generative models. However, the new pricing structure inadvertently targets smaller third-party developers, with popular alternative app Apollo announcing it will shut down at the end of the month rather than pay the exorbitant $2 million monthly fee.
The protest mirrors a similar move by Twitter earlier this year, as both platforms attempt to build what Reddit calls a more equitable system for API access. Despite these stated intentions regarding big tech companies, the immediate fallout severely impacts everyday users who rely on third-party apps for their daily Reddit browsing experience.