Although the currently ongoing Reddit Blackout is the most significant the platform has ever seen, CEO Steve Huffman appears unphased, having assured staff in a new company-wide memo that it “will pass.”
Announced on May 31, Reddit revealed its plans to begin charging for access to its Application Programming Interface (API). This tool is how third-party developers built their own applications and implemented unique features on the social media platform.
With costs so high it could allegedly run third-party apps “$20 million a year” just to stay online, much of the Reddit community is currently in the midst of a protest. Referred to as the Reddit Blackout, roughly 8,000 of the most popular subreddits are now inaccessible as users far and wide show their displeasure with the changes.
However, even with the widespread backlash and unprecedented revolt online, Reddit’s CEO doesn’t appear all too bothered. In a company-wide memo on June 12, one obtained by The Verge, Huffman claimed the Blackout has had no “significant revenue impact” and that it will “pass” in due time.
Reddit’s CEO told employees he isn't worried about the protests and black out of the site pic.twitter.com/aJI2IPhE9B
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) June 13, 2023
“While we knew this was coming, it is a challenge nevertheless and we have our work cut out for us,” Huffman began his memo to all Reddit employees, before shifting gears to a more reassuring note for the company.
“We have not seen any significant revenue impact so far and we will continue to monitor.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“There’s a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we’ve seen. Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well.”
With a number of subreddits detailing their plans ahead of the Blackout, most are expected to come back online “by Wednesday,” and Reddit’s own staff members are banking on as much too.
However, even if certain popular subreddits remain locked up indefinitely, Huffman is steadfast in his plans for Reddit and the upcoming API cost increase.
In response to Reddit's proposed API price increases, the majority of the website's largest subs have gone into a 48 hour lockdown protest pic.twitter.com/qznw0ue7te
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) June 12, 2023
“We absolutely must ship what we said we would,” he said in the memo. “The only long-term solution is improving our product, and in the short term we have a few upcoming critical mod tool launches we need to nail.”
For the time being, it appears a handful of key third-party applications are indeed set to shutdown by the end of June, a fact Huffman is aware of. Though he claimed Reddit is “still in conversation with some others.”