Why is the Reddit blackout happening? API and third-party apps explained

You may have noticed many subreddits have shut down on the social media site Reddit. But just why is this happening and what does it have to do with third-party apps? 

Engadget reports that 6,000 communities on Reddit have “gone dark” by way of making their subreddits private and disallowing access to their content for anyone who isn’t already subscribed. 

This all comes after Reddit CEO Steve Huffman doubled down on his decision to make changes to the site’s policies regarding application programming interface (API). Specifically, these new policy changes will result in third-party apps that utilize Reddit’s content to permanently shut down.

On the surface, it doesn’t seem like a big deal for a tech company to restrict who can create apps related to its platform. However, due to the specific way that Reddit works, many community moderators are calling out the decision as undermining the very fabric of the site.

As the r/AskHistorians Twitter account explained, much of the content and its curation on Reddit is completely volunteer-based. These unpaid community moderators often rely on the now-banned third-party apps for their workflow, with no viable replacement applications being offered by Reddit in their place. One example of this is how some third-party apps make the site more accessible for blind users.

With so much of the fabric of Reddit’s content being dependent on volunteer labor, it’s no wonder so many are having an adverse reaction to the API changes. Previously, Reddit did not charge any money for people to have access to its API. But it was announced back in April that will all soon change and charges will be in effect — beginning July 1 — for developers using Reddit’s API, according to Aljazeera.

What is API?

APIs are essential to the very fabric of the way people interact with websites nowadays. As Aljazeera explained, “Simply put, they permit two applications to communicate with one another, allowing developers to access data and build new features and functionality.” 

Essentially, developers could previously request data from Reddit for free to build an application. Now, that access will be restricted behind a paywall. And many applications that have previously been built using the free API will now be shut down. 

What’s more, the associated fee Reddit is now asking for with the paid API is on a “per-request basis,” meaning it can get extremely expensive for app developers very quickly. As DigitalTrends explained:

“The more popular an app is, the more requests it needs to make, the more money it costs. One developer claimed Reddit is charging $12,000 for every 50 million requests, or $0.24 per 1,000 requests. That may not sound like a lot, but Apollo, a popular Reddit app for Apple products, can make upwards of 7 billion requests in a month. That comes out to nearly $2 million per month and over $20 million per year.”

This all comes after Elon Musk apparently set the trend for charging for API access with his takeover of Twitter. The social media website has similarly shut down dozens of applications from third-party developers as a result.

So far, many of the communities that are shutting down are slated to do so for 48 hours beginning Monday, June 12. But others will be turning out the lights for good, or at least until Reddit’s API policy is reversed entirely.