Reddit making changes, Vancouver’s page shuts down in protest

Vancouver’s Reddit page has temporarily gone dark in protest against a new “application programming interface” (API) coming to the platform.

Anyone looking to access r/vancouver will be met with a brief message explaining why it isn’t accessible for now.

“Do not message modmail and ask to be let in. /r/Vancouver has temporarily gone private as part of a coordinated protest against Reddit’s detrimental change in policy against 3rd party developers.”

“No users will be approved during this time,” it reads.

Vancouver’s main page is just one of many Reddit communities taking a stance against the change, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman says would give access to third parties so they can optimize apps for the platform.

Huffman took to his platform on June 8 to “address the community” about the changes.

“I want to talk with you today about what’s happening within the community and frustration stemming from changes we are making to access our API,” he said.

“On 4/18, we shared that we would update access to the API, including premium access for third parties who require additional capabilities and higher usage limits. Reddit needs to be a self-sustaining business, and to do that, we can no longer subsidize commercial entities that require large-scale data use.”

Huffman, who goes by “u/spez” on Reddit, says new Terms of Service for the platform will be effective June 19, and adds the API-related changes will kick in July 1.

According to Huffman’s post, he and other admins will keep answering questions in “Q&A mode” for the time being.