- Reddit communities protested against the platform’s policy to charge third-party apps for data access, resulting in outages and technical issues. The site’s front page displayed empty posts with the message “Something went wrong” during the outage, causing the #RedditBlackout hashtag to trend on Twitter. The protest highlights the importance of APIs in enabling third-party app developers.
- As a result of the outage, Reddit’s front page displayed empty posts, causing expected stability issues. The #RedditBlackout hashtag began trending on Twitter while users were unable to load posts until the platform resumed functioning almost two hours later. The move highlights the need for open and transparent API pricing models that do not burden developers with excessive costs.
- Reddit communities went dark in response to the company’s intention to charge third-party developers to access its API. Thousands of subreddits shifted to private, resulting in significant disruption to the platform. The move resulted in a standoff between Reddit moderators and users, causing more than 7,808 unique subreddits to participate in the blackout and highlighting the need for affordable API pricing models.
In the wake of the protests across the United States, many subreddits have gone private as Reddit experiences an outage. The decision to go private was made in solidarity with the protests and to prevent misinformation and harmful content from spreading.
The outage, which began on May 31, 2020, has affected various parts of the site, including user accounts, searches, and subreddits. While the site has stated that they are working on a solution, there has been no clear timeline for when the issues will be resolved.
As the protests against police brutality and racism continue, many subreddits have noticed an increase in harmful comments and messages. Going private is a way for them to maintain control over their communities and prevent outside interference.
One subreddit that has gone private is r/BlackLivesMatter, which has over 400,000 members. The subreddit has stated that they are taking a stand against racism and police brutality and that going private was a way for them to show solidarity with the protestors.
Other subreddits, such as r/politics, r/news, and r/worldnews, have also gone private to prevent the spread of misinformation and hate speech. The move has been praised by many users, who see it as a way for the platform to take a stand against racism and hatred.
Overall, the decision of subreddits to go private during the protests and the site-wide outage has reflected a growing concern for the safety and well-being of marginalized communities. As the protests continue, it is likely that more subreddits will follow suit and take steps to protect their users.