Reddit is Now Back Online after Massive Outage Caused by Subreddit Protests against API Policy

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 12 June 2023, 09:06 pm

Reddit has recently experienced a down to its platform after several subreddits and Redditors joined hands together for going dark on the platform to protest against the company's latest API changes. The website and app are now back online after several hours of a massive outage on the platform, with users and developers joining hands against the latest policies of the company.

The ensuing API changes give app developers for Reddit a massive fee for their continued use of its API, with several apps already shutting down due to significant potential charges.

Reddit is Now Back Online After Suffering a Major Outage

(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Venturing to Reddit now will give users the content or subreddits they follow on the platform, but this was an entirely different story several hours ago when it suffered from a major outage. This was a result of the recent down of the platform after different subreddits and Redditors decided to make their voices heard and protested against the company.

Down Detector received thousands of reports on its platform about the Reddit outage earlier today, and it is not an isolated case as it centers on the boycott on the platform.

Different subreddits have already gone dark on their operations, with some pledging as much as 48 hours of inactivity, while other subreddits claim that this will ensure indefinitely until a sound solution is made.

Outage from Outrage: Subreddits Protest on New API

The outage is a result of an outrage from users and communities that went together in taking matters into their hands and protesting about the recent API changes on the platform. Still, there are no responses yet from Reddit regarding the issue or if there are revisions to its new API policy which would give fair pricing to developers and apps that use its programming interface.

Reddit and its Recent API Changes

At first, the new API changes were only charging artificial intelligence from accessing the Reddit archive of human-generated content, with massive amounts asked by the company for gathering from its database. However, this did not last for long as the company introduced its new API policies in April which changed a lot for the platform.

This led to the shutdown of many platforms that uses Reddit's API for free after several years of having no charges for their operations. One of the most iconic departures was from Apollo, among the largest apps which use Reddit's API, but this was not the end of the growing list of apps that are now shutting down to avoid massive charges from the company.

Reddit's recent outage is a result of the people's protest against the company, alongside subreddits that also disagree with the platform's API changes. While the entirety of the company is now back online, those who have joined the protest are still not going back to the platform until a reasonable solution is offered by the company.