The Reddit blackout was supposed to be a two-day event. But comments made by CEO Steve Huffman in an internal memo that leaked have strengthened the resolve of protesting moderators, who are vowing to keep the popular channels offline indefinitely.
Huffman, in a memo to Reddit staff Monday, reportedly downplayed the blackout. The Verge, which posted the email, quotes Huffman as saying the company has “not seen any significant revenue impact so far” and “like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well.”
As of 11 a.m. ET Wednesday, more than 6,000 subreddits were still dark, with a large number set to restricted access, meaning Reddit users could see old posts, but are unable to make new ones.
Among the subreddits that remain dark are r/funny (with over 40 million subscribers), r/Music and r/science (with over 30 million subscribers each) and r/DIY, which has more than 20 million subscribers.
“Reddit has budged microscopically,” wrote the moderator SpicyThunder in an update. Despite some concessions, such as the restoration of a popular archiving tool, he added, “our core concerns still aren’t satisfied, and these concessions came prior to the blackout start date; Reddit has been silent since it began.”
At issue is Reddit’s decision to impose charges on certain third-party apps to utilize its application programming interface (API), a tool that powers popular third-party tools giving users an alternative way to browse Reddit’s forums. Reddit has said it is charging the fee for its API to cover the costs of an ad-free experience.
Reddit first announced changes to its API policy in April, but the ramifications of that weren’t clear until earlier this month. Since then, several popular tools have said they will shut down at the end of the month, blaming prohibitive costs from API fees.
In the memo, Huffman also warned employees to be cautious as sentiment against the company increases.
“I am sorry to say this, but please be mindful of wearing Reddit gear in public,” he wrote. “Some folks are really upset, and we don’t want you to be the object of their frustrations.”
