Reddit Threatens Removal of Moderators as API Protests Escalate

In response to ongoing protests against changes to the Reddit API, the company has intensified its efforts to address the challenges it faces. Reddit has now begun informing moderators of private subreddits that they will be removed if their communities do not reopen by the end of the week.

Several moderators claim to have received messages from an admin account called ModCodeofConduct, which is believed to be operated by a Reddit employee. These messages pressure the moderators to open their private communities and give them a 48-hour deadline to respond.

As the deadline passed, The Verge reported that the same account posted a note in one of these private communities, stating that the community cannot remain closed to its millions of members. The note emphasized that the community would not remain private beyond the given timeframe for confirmation of plans.

The ModCodeofConduct admin account is taking an offensive stance, warning protesting moderators in private communities that they will be removed unless they reopen. Messages were sent to moderators of at least two separate subreddits, stating, “This is a courtesy notice to let you know that you will lose the moderator status in the community by the end of the week.”

Evidence suggests that at least one subreddit, r/longhair, has lost its entire moderator team, as seen in the comments in response to the admin account’s post seeking new moderators. The former main mod expressed gratitude for the supportive comments but mentioned that moderating can be a thankless job that requires a lot of mental energy. Another commenter noted their reduced usage of Reddit, particularly for moderating, due to an impending app shutdown.

The API changes announced by Reddit, scheduled to take effect on July 1, involve increased pricing for access to data and render the API inaccessible for many smaller developers. Consequently, popular third-party apps like Apollo and Sync, which cannot afford the new costs, will no longer be functional. This affects apps with accessibility features not found in the official Reddit app, such as those catering to visually impaired individuals.

As a form of protest against these changes, Reddit moderators had made over 8,000 of the most popular communities private or unavailable. However, the company has shown no willingness to reconsider or engage in negotiations.