Reddit administrators have recently suggested that subreddits participating in the coordinated blackout be assigned random moderators if they remain private. Subreddits coordinated the blackout in protest of reddit’s decision to functionally eliminate third-party apps with exorbitant API pricing. These apps are critical both to moderation and to accessibility.

The work that we as moderators perform is uncompensated, but it is labor. As the below FAQ states, “This moderation labor costs other companies in the range of millions of dollars per year.” We condemn Reddit’s decision to employ what amounts to strike-breaking tactics in response to moderators expressing concerns about the conditions of that labor. We further oppose a change that would restrict blind and visually impaired people’s ability to interact with reddit. In response to admin tactics, we have decided that r/Feminism will go public, but in restricted mode. We will be discerning about new posts and comments and will participate in a blackout every Tuesday, Touch Grass Tuesday. This post will serve as the moderation team’s statement on why we are participating in the protest.

The below FAQ has been copied from /r/philosophy’s explainer by /u/BernardJOrtcutt and adapted to our subreddit.

Why are subreddits protesting reddit in the first place?

reddit recently announced that it would begin charging for access to its API (Application Programming Interface, essentially the communication between reddit and other sites/apps). While this may be, in isolation, a reasonable business operation, the timeline and pricing of API access has threatened to put nearly all third-party apps, e.g. Apollo and RIF, out of business. You can read more about the history of this change here or here.

Why does the API pricing change matter?

Eliminating third-party apps poses two major issues which we are concerned about.

First, the native reddit app lacks accessibility features which are essential for some people, notably those who are blind and visually impaired. You can read /r/blind's protest announcement here. These apps are the only way that many people can interact with reddit, given the poor accessibility state of the official reddit app. As feminists we are particularly concerned with the ethics of accessibility, and support protests in solidarity with this community.

Second, the reddit app lacks many essential tools for moderation. While reddit has promised better moderation tools on the app in the future, this is not enough. First, reddit has repeatedly broken promises regarding features, including moderation features. Most notably, reddit promised CSS support for new reddit over six years ago, which has yet to materialize. Second, even if reddit follows through on the roadmap in the post linked above, many of the features will not come until well after June 30, when the third-party apps will shut down due to reddit's API pricing changes.

Why does a lack of moderation tools on the reddit app matter?

reddit's moderation is handled by volunteer teams who spend their free time trying to curate some of the best and most informative communities on the internet. This moderation labor costs other companies in the range of millions of dollars per year. Many moderators, including the moderators of r/Feminism find it significantly easier to moderate in short bursts on mobile rather than via desktop. Data from a random day last week shows that fewer than a quarter of subreddit views come from a computer. If third-party apps are eliminated by reddit's changes, then the moderation of this subreddit will suffer drastically.

Why should I care about moderation on r/Feminism?

Moderation is mostly invisible labor, unseen by the majority of people but essential to the well-being of the community. While some people will claim that they think that subreddits would work better without any moderation, if they knew what moderators actually handle for the benefit of communities they would quickly change their minds. (This did, in fact, happen with a subreddit created by a user who felt our subreddit was over-moderated.)

Moderation protects our users from spam and misinformation, but also from harassment and violent threats, which constituted 3% of reported posts this year, and hate speech, which made up an additional 10%. Without moderation, a forum of this size would devolve into mostly spam and low-effort posts.

What will happen next?

Given the multiple challenges facing us:

• Loss of third party applications;

• Loss of mod tools and bots;

• The bad state of the official reddit app;

• Severe degradation of communication with the admins,

We are forced to take the following measures:

• We appeal to the community for volunteers to step forward, to help moderate;

• Until our mod team size increases, to compensate for the increased workload, we will go into blackout on Tuesdays, until the situation normalizes. This will allow us to catch up with the backlog, evaluate current status of the community and properly review existing challenges to the community (that the new reddit decisions have made that much more difficult).

So what is the goal of this protest?

As noted in our original private-status message, we would like to see reddit reverse course or at the very least return to the negotiating table with moderators and third-party apps. Specifically, the moderators of r/Feminism would like to see:

• A good faith effort from reddit's administration to return to the negotiating table regarding API pricing.

• An extended timeline for any implementation of API pricing, specifically until reddit's native app moderation tools and accessibility features equal those available in third-party apps.

• A public apology from reddit CEO Steve Huffman, i.e. /u/spez, for his hostility towards third-party app developers and moderators (see here and here for examples, as well as his infamous AMA ).

What can I do to support the protests?

You can stand in solidarity with this community and thousands of others across reddit by making your voice heard. Write to the admins and respectfully let them know your concerns. Post on social media, raising awareness of these issues. Most importantly, do not cede reddit to the admins. These are our communities, which we built and which we make great. We can resist the enshittification of the internet, if we stand together.