Subreddits weaponize porn to protest Reddit API changes.
Big Brain Community.
Recently, Reddit announced that it will start charging for access to it’s API. This would kill off all their 3rd party apps which many people rely on not just to access the website, but moderate it too. As a response, subreddits went private in what was a 48 hours blackout which they announced would continue indefinitely should Reddit not backdown.
Reddit did not back down and instead have opted to blackmail the moderators of various subreddits. Stating that if they don’t reopen their community then they will be replaced by moderators who will comply to these demands.
Some subreddits caved to the demands, some did not and were promptly replaced but some complied maliciously. Community “InterestingAsFuck” has reopened but has now gone NSFW with porn now flooding the community. Why? It’s simple. Reddit does not run ads on NSFW subreddits. Therefore they are abiding by Reddits demand but also they are protesting and denying any ad revenue.
Other subreddits such as r/art and r/pics have gone their own way about this too. Both these subreddits now only allow posts that contain images of John Oliver. Whilst these do not harm ad revenue for Reddit, it is still a form of protest.
There are numerous other communities that are involved in this malicious compliance that I could not begin to list them all. It is interesting to see how this will all come to a head as Reddit seemingly get more and more desperate to end this debacle.
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