Reddit CEO not backing down on 3rd-party app charges after protest
Global News
Most people visiting Reddit probably don’t think about APIs but access to these third-party resources is critical for moderators to do their jobs, experts note.
If you hopped on Reddit to scroll through your favorite forums this week, you may have encountered “private” or “restricted” messages. That’s because thousands of subreddits chose to go dark in an ongoing protest over the company’s plan to start charging certain third-party developers to access the site’s data.
But Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman told The Associated Press he’s not backing off.
“Protest and dissent is important,” Huffman said. “The problem with this one is it’s not going to change anything because we made a business decision that we’re not negotiating on.”
Organizers of the protest say Reddit’s new policy threatens to end key ways of historically customizing the platform using an API, or application programming interface, which allows computer programs to communicate with each another. Third-party developers rely on API data to create their apps, which offer access to features that are unavailable in the official Reddit app, particularly for content moderation and accessibility aids.
But Reddit says that supporting these third-party developers is too expensive and that the new policy is necessary to become a self-sustaining business.
Reddit has more than 100,000 active subreddits, and nearly 9,000 of them went dark this week. While some returned to their public settings after 48 hours, others say they plan to stay private until Reddit meets their demands, which include lowering third-party developer charges — set to go into effect July 1 — so that popular apps don’t shut down.
As of Friday, more than 4,000 subreddits were still participating in the blackout — including communities with tens of millions of subscribers like r/music and r/videos — according to a tracker and live Twitch stream of the boycott.
Reddit notes that the vast majority of subreddit communities are still active. And while Huffman maintains that he respects users’ rights to protest, he also says that the subreddits currently participating in the blackout are “not going to stay offline indefinitely” — even if that means finding new moderators.
The deadly haze covered monuments and high-rise buildings in the capital of New Delhi, with visibility so low that airlines warned of delays.
The death is being investigated by federal authorities but "the preliminary cause" has been ruled an accident.
The incident took place more than a month ago, on October 13, but it wasn't reported until the British tabloids got wind of the story.
Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.
Washington is easing limits on what Ukraine can strike with U.S.-made weaponry, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.
Concerns storm surges could raise water levels between one and three feet above ground level as Tropical Storm Sara makes landfall in Belize.
Air defenses could be heard engaging drones over Kyiv in the night, and a series of powerful blasts rang out across the city as the missile attack was under way in the morning.
John Kirton, head of the G20 Research Group, says the forum is the main tool countries have to prepare for the second Donald Trump presidency.
Israeli airstrikes on the village of Khreibeh in the Baalbek District of eastern Lebanon killed six people on Saturday, including three children the Lebanese health ministry said.
The APEC summit marked the end of trade talks that should lead to Canada signing a new deal with the world's fourth-most populous country next year.