In shocking move, Reddit hits back at moderators over API price hike protests

According to reports, Reddit suspended subreddit moderators who changed their label to Not Safe for Work (NSFW), which disqualifies the space for advertisers.

Reddit removes protesting moderators from their position. (Bloomberg)

In a shocking development, Reddit moderators, who participated in the protests against the company over its API pricing change, were reportedly being removed from their position. The moderators who were being suspended were the ones who changed their subreddit's label to Not Safe For Work (NSFW). The label indicates that sexual content is allowed on the subreddit. The ongoing protests began on June 12 when many Reddit communities went private to show their displeasure over the planned price hikes for API requests that forced several third-party apps to stop operations from June 30.

It is believed that the moderators were suspended for changing their communities to NSFW. Usually, when a subreddit is flagged as NSFW, Reddit adds an age warning before allowing desktop users from accessing it and restricts access to users logged in on mobile devices. Additionally, and more importantly, Reddit does not show ads on these pages for the abovementioned reasons. So, by changing the label of their communities, the moderators essentially made it so the company would not be able to monetize those spaces.

Some moderators decided to go NSFW on June 15, the same day that some subreddits decided to remain private for an indefinite period of time. Among them were popular communities such as r/MildlyInteresting, r/interestingasfuck, and r/TIHI (Thanks I Hate It).

“Moderators incorrectly marking a community as NSFW is a violation of both our Content Policy and Moderator Code of Conduct,” Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told The Verge.

Reddit's new API pricing

In April, Reddit announced changes to its API model to put limits on the number of API requests made by a third-party client. It also updated the pricing terms for API requests. This move was initially seen as a way for the company to make the developers pay that use their AI platforms to take Reddit's content to answer user queries.

However, two weeks ago, Christian Selig, a developer of Apollo, a third-party Reddit app for iOS, shared a post, where he revealed that the platform was charging roughly $12,000 per 50 million requests. Selig also explained that with about 7 billion API requests (Apollo's stats from the previous month), it would have to pay Reddit $1.7 million per month or $20 million per year just to continue operating.

Many third-party apps believe they would be put in a similar situation. Popular Android-based app Reddit Is Fun has also announced that the app would stop functioning from June 30 onwards. Apollo and Naharwal, another third-party app, have also given similar timelines before these apps are taken offline.