Reddit Reportedly Begins Telling Mods To Reopen Shuttered Subreddits Or Face Replacement
Earlier this week, numerous subreddits on social platform Reddit began a blackout in protest of the site's upcoming API pricing changes. According to these new rules, any third-party app developers would need to pay Reddit a steep fine for every usage of its API, which would price a lot of smaller developers out of operation and leave users without their ideal version of the site.
The protest was only supposed to last until June 14, but after an alleged internal memo leaked, many subreddits decided to continue indefinitely. Apparently, Reddit is starting to get testy. According to a report from The Verge, multiple subreddit moderators have received messages straight from Reddit corporate with a mildly threatening implication.
"If there are mods here who are willing to work towards reopening this community, we are willing to work with you to process a Top Mod Removal request or reorder the mod team to achieve this goal if mods higher up the list are hindering reopening. We would handle this request and any retaliation attempts here in this modmail chain immediately.
Our goal is to work with the existing mod team to find a path forward and make sure your subreddit is made available for the community which makes its home here. If you are not able or willing to reopen and maintain the community, please let us know."
New mods in, old mods out
While Reddit's message does not outright state as such, the implication is pretty clear: the site is seeking to remove any mods that are supporting the subreddit blackouts, and replace them with mods that will re-open the subreddits.
In a recent fact sheet Reddit posted on Thursday, the site said that it would not force any private subreddits to re-open to the public. However, there's a loophole in this claim: According to Reddit moderator u/ModCodeofConduct, the website does reserve the right to remove and replace any moderators that it believes are in violation of the site's official Code of Conduct. According to Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt, who spoke to The Verge, participating in the blackouts could be considered code-violating behavior for a mod.
"If a moderator team unanimously decides to stop moderating, we will invite new, active moderators to keep these spaces open and accessible to users," wrote u/ModCodeofConduct.
Unfortunately, there isn't much that blackout-participating moderators or the users of their subreddits can do to stymie Reddit should it choose to remove and replace. For the moment, they have attempted to appeal to corporate directly with group messages urging them to understand the reason for the protest. According to its alleged leaked internal memo, though, Reddit has mostly downplayed or ignored the protest, confident that it will pass in time.