The blackout will include 3,489 subreddits in total
Thousands of Reddit forums and communities, also called 'subreddits' will become inaccessible on Monday as a form of protest against the way the website is being run, BBC reported. A subreddit is a forum or community of people on Reddit who gather to discuss a particular topic or subject. Some of Reddit's most popular communities, including r/videos, r/reactiongifs, r/earthporn, and r/lifeprotips, have announced their plans to set themselves to private on June 12.
The protest is mainly because of the new pricing imposed by Reddit on third-party app developers seeking access to the site's APIs. Several developers have expressed concerns about the viability of their services under the new pricing policy.
Unlike other social media sites, Reddit relies on community moderation and although a few administrators are paid, unpaid moderators, known as mods, are often the ones who keep the site functional. These moderators make sure that their subreddit doesn't get clogged with irrelevant or illegal comments.
In a post announcing the protest, the subreddits say ''Reddit is raising its API fees ''to a level that will kill every third party app [on the platform], from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.''
Don't Let Reddit Kill 3rd Party Apps!
by u/Toptomcat in Save3rdPartyApps
The blackout will include 3,489 subreddits in total, including five of the 10 most popular communities on the site. While some subreddits plan to return after the 48-hour period, others intend to remain private indefinitely unless their concerns are adequately addressed.
A moderator for one of these subreddits told the BBC the protest was about "strength in numbers".
"If it was a single subreddit going private, Reddit may intervene. But if it's half the entire website, then you feel a lot more pressure. This is a completely volunteer position, we don't receive any financial compensation, and despite that, we do like to take it quite seriously, he said.
Addressing the blackout, Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman said it "needs to be a self-sustaining business".
"We respect when you and your communities take action to highlight the things you need, including, at times, going private. We are all responsible for ensuring Reddit provides an open accessible place for people to find community and belonging," he said.