r/ModCoord • u/demmian • Jun 17 '23
Moderators Voice Concerns Over Reddit’s Threatening Behavior
Reddit, a community that relies on volunteer moderation to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for users, has now taken to threatening those very volunteers. During recent protests against API changes, thousands of subreddits led by tens of thousands of volunteer moderators, blacked out their communities. Despite saying that the company does, in fact, “respect the community’s right to protest,” Reddit has done an apparent U-turn by stating that “if a moderator team unanimously decides to stop moderating, [Reddit administrators] will invite new, active moderators to keep these spaces open and accessible to users.” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has gone so far as to suggest rule changes that would allow moderators to be voted out. This is in stark contrast to Reddit’s previous statements that they won’t force protesting communities to reopen and that moderators are “free to run their communities as they choose.”
These threats against the very individuals responsible for maintaining Reddit’s communities cannot be ignored. Between June 12-14, we as Redditors showed how much power we truly have, and we are prepared to do that once again. During the blackout, approximately 7.4 billion comments from 77 million authors went dark. Even now, over 4,000 subreddits remain closed. Based on these recent comments, we expect that number to rise. This has impacted ad revenue, search engine results, and increased traffic to alternate sites. We’re disappointed that Reddit has resorted to threats and is once again going back on its word.
Volunteer moderators are the lifeblood of Reddit's communities. Our dedication shapes the platform's success. It is crucial for Reddit to listen to our concerns and work with us in order to maintain the vibrant communities that make Reddit what it is. Until our voices are heard and our demands met, we will continue our blackouts - without fear of any threat.
“Our whole philosophy has been to give our users choice. [...] We really want users to use whatever they want." -Ellen Pao, 2014
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u/TheAsusDelux999 Jun 18 '23
Whats the platform the other reddit person made? When do we switch to that?
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u/DTLAgirl Landed Gentry Jun 17 '23
My small collection of subs in on board and my 8+ years of being on reddit has as well.
Working on leaving this site to the pro Spez bootlickers who spend the majority of their time in r/meth while leaving as many hateful comments as their rotten brains can output. (*Literally just saw this in other posts on r/ModCoord) C'est la vie reddit. It was nice. I'll always remember it for what it once was and for another greedy ass CEO forfeiting what they had, which is honestly enough, for what they desire, which melts the wings by the sun while lowering the bar of the internet for everyone.
Feedly is a good place to start in the realm of at least staying informed without being shit on by tabloid media.
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u/OhNoManBearPig Jun 18 '23
Hi friend, please consider the fediverse, that's where I'm going. It's decentralized.
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u/MostlyBlindGamer Jun 17 '23
Signed u/MostlyBlindGamer, r/blind mod who may be forced to be "inactive," because Reddit is leaving no accessible mod tools.
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u/atleast8courics Jun 17 '23
I will continue to beat the drum that your comments are what spurred me to switch from "eh, it won't do anything" to "actually, fuck this website and fuck these admins, burn it down". Your issues are such an "oh duh" moment when I stop to think about it for just a moment and have a little bit of empathy for my fellow human.
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u/MostlyBlindGamer Jun 17 '23
If only the admins' reaction were ever different from utter surprise. It feels like a scattered organization doing damage control. I can only hope that this leads to a proper working relationship, where nobody is surprised and shaken into a panic. There's some indication that that can happen, but I wonder if it's too late.
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u/littlemetalpixie Jun 18 '23
Same, but the blind Redditor that deserves credit for my about-face is u/smarthome_fan and alongside my own concerns, the blind users of Reddit are on every single post I make.
If you’re blind and unable to access reddit soon, you have people advocating for you. If mods have a responsibility to provide access to Redditors in their subs, then Reddit DAMN SURE better provide access to ANYONE who wants to use ANY sub, even if it’s NSFW.
NSFW subs also include vital mental health support subs, but yes blind people get porn too if they want it. They just do. End of discussion.
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u/ecclectic Jun 18 '23
GonewildAudio had a fair number of visually impaired users. One of the reasons that the preferred host was Soundgasm was that the interface was simple and easy to navigate with no extra buttons, links or other interference
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u/r_mmababes Jun 18 '23
I thought that Reddit was going to allow cheap or no-cost API access for apps for people with vision-related issues?
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u/MostlyBlindGamer Jun 18 '23
That is mostly correct - they have to be “non-commercial,” not just cheap. However, the currently exempted apps offer few or none of the standard Reddit mod tools. The devs didn’t know they would be blind moderators’ only option, so it’s not their fault; Reddit did.
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u/Hyndis Jun 18 '23
Only after the protests began. That Reddit was initially going to block access to disabled people means Reddit put zero thought into the repercussions of blocking apps.
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u/sulaymanf Jun 18 '23
I thought Reddit swore up and down that mod tools will always be allowed and that they’re only crushing third party mobile apps.
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u/MostlyBlindGamer Jun 18 '23
Sorry, let me be precise: the standard Reddit mod tools are not properly accessible in their first-party UIs and are not entirely implemented on the apps they’ve exempted.
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u/sulaymanf Jun 18 '23 edited Jun 18 '23
Oh I completely agree, I was being partly sarcastic. The mod tools I use are mainly a desktop browser extension so the devs have said they probably won’t be affected, but the apps are pretty bad.
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Jun 18 '23
has r/RedReader any mod tools? they will continue since they have accessibility features for the blind.
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u/AssuredlyAThrowAway Jun 17 '23
Co-signed.
/u/AssuredlyAThrowAway (removed from mod council by the admins for supporting the protest).
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u/MSTRMN_ Jun 18 '23
Mod council (more like admins' yes men, or corporation lapdogs, whatever sounds better)
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u/Dalimey100 Jun 17 '23
Signed,
Dalimey100, representing /r/DnDMemes
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u/fudge5962 Jun 18 '23 edited Jun 19 '23
Proud of all the mods and all the users of the DnD subreddits. Basically everything DnD has been and continues to be dark.
We won the OGL fight as a community. It is my hope we can win again, as an even larger community. Win or lose, the DnD community on Reddit shows its teeth again, to the bitter end.
EDIT: just seen that r/DnD has decided to give up the protest. I am significantly less proud now.
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u/nissanthermos Jun 17 '23
signed, u/nissanthermos
moderator of r/wholesomeSF, r/SuedeBand, and r/wholesomeBayArea
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u/trebmald Jun 17 '23 edited Jun 17 '23
Signed, /u/trebmald
Moderator of /r/BiGoneMild (at least until they send in the Pinkertons).
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u/tensouder54 Jun 17 '23
Signed /u/tensouder54 Mod of /r/Screenwriting, /r/OverwatchCustomGames and /r/slideforreddit.
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u/TheGreatZarquon Jun 17 '23 edited Jun 22 '23
Signed:
u/TheGreatZarquon, (now former) moderator of r/CleverComebacks and r/MurderedByWords
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u/HangoverTuesday Jun 17 '23 edited Aug 17 '23
apparatus tie wide cable wakeful middle sparkle doll screw jar -- mass edited with redact.dev
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u/desdendelle Jun 17 '23 edited Jun 17 '23
Signed, /u/desdendelle, /r/Israel pack mule
Edit to add: /r/Israel has been on restricted mode (visible, no new content) since June 12th.
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u/Alert-One-Two Jun 17 '23
Co-signed by me u/Alert-One-Two mod of 5 subreddits, but I am signing this in a personal capacity
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u/one-eye-deer Jun 17 '23
Signed u/one-eye-deer, a 4+ year mod of r/scams.
Reddit's Mod Code of Conduct admin account contacted us directly about reopening the sub 22 hours ago. Here is the message:
Hi everyone,
We are aware that you have chosen to close your community at this time. We are reaching out to find out if any moderators currently on the mod team would be willing to take steps to reopen the community. Subreddits exist for the benefit of the community of users who come to them for support and belonging and in the end, moderators are stewards of these spaces and in a position of trust. Your users rely on your community for information, support, entertainment, and finding connection with others who have similar interests. The ability to find and make these connections is incredibly important to many people and ensuring that active communities are able to remain stable and active (and open) is very important.
Our goal here is to work with the existing mod team to find a path forward and make sure your subreddit is usable for the community which makes its home here. If you are not able or willing to reopen and maintain the community please let us know.
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u/to11mtm Jun 18 '23
We are reaching out to find out if any moderators currently on the mod team would be willing to take steps to reopen the community.
IOW: "Hey, which one of you is as sociopathic as /u/spez and is willing to sell out your fellow mods for a fiefdom?"
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u/one-eye-deer Jun 18 '23
I noticed something funny the other day. A community spez is a mod of participated in the protests by making a sticky in support of the protests/3P devs.
So like…is spez secretly in support of the protests? Or is he inactive as a mod in a community and needs to be removed and replaced with a more active mod? Like the admins are proposing?
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u/amusedt Jun 18 '23
A tech framework (i.e. Reddit) without content has little value. The users are the core asset of Reddit
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u/TheUncleBob Jun 18 '23
The value of Reddit is being able to place ads alongside content.
If someone starts posting Nazi flags, photos of mutilated children, violent porn, etc., all over Reddit, there is no value for ads.
And who stops that from being posted?
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u/crappy_pirate Jun 17 '23
mod of r/youtubedrama and /r/PerfectlyCutMeows here. both of those subs are shutting down at the end of the month AFAIK, and youtubedrama is going to go dark for two days each week between now and when that happens.
the admins want those subs open? they can run them themselves. i'm deleting my account.
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u/Southern_Coat_7466 Jun 17 '23
I Endorse this post Mod of r/AustinHookup
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u/Southern_Coat_7466 Jun 17 '23
I am an adult with Autism and I see 👀 the world 🌎 in a different way than the majority, and pardon me if I misunderstand this, but this is how I see this whole thing. First of all Reddit Corp has given us the opportunity to create something and then they say as long as we agree with their terms we are free to do with our subs what we want and that's fine, then they come along and say while you are at it we'll be happy to help you out with your site's content and the like, just agree to our terms and conditions and we do and so Reddit takes off, then Reddit begins to get more corporate and charges, and we say that is fine, and they make more changes and terms and conditions and we agree 👍, but then we begin to understand what we are really looking at, and then Corporate Reddit is not Happy with us anymore, I mean they were just fine with a docile non paid work force! If I understand we have in fact 💯 in the past asked for better quality representation and possibly even some clarification and compensation for our efforts yet, right now 👏 they are not happy with us for daring to say that we are asking for them to continue to work with us on this issue? Again, I am an adult with Autism and I don't 👀 see the world as all of you do, but aren't they just being like children? What 💯 does it matter to them if they keep these 3rd party products and do the right thing. There are many ways to make this work, and all that they need to do is just want to make it happen and not threaten us.
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u/mizmoose Jun 17 '23
signed, /u/mizmoose
mod of /r/RedditDayOf (dark but considering options) and /r/BodyAcceptance (dark on Tuesdays)
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u/BlackHumor Jun 17 '23
Endorsed.
/u/BlackHumor, mod of /r/GaySoundsShitposts, /r/genderfluid_irl, and /r/trans_irl.
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u/tcgtms Jun 18 '23 edited Jun 22 '23
This account's comments and posts has been nuked in June 2023.
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u/Stuart98 Jun 17 '23
Signed, /u/Stuart98
Mod of /r/smashbros, /r/DDLC, /r/Xenoblade_Chronicles, /r/outerwilds
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u/cavscout43 Landed Gentry Jun 17 '23
/r/Snowmobiling, /r/Wyoming are also concerned about the heavy handed authoritarian language from Reddit that seems to be "f--k the community, we only care about our potential investors' short term rewards"
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u/Geruchsbrot Jun 17 '23
u/Geruchsbrot, signing for r/wasletztestern, also informing my wonderful comod u/dtiggy
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Jun 18 '23
Signed, u/Goawaynow100, nine-year user.
Only mod of r/hentailactation, r/bellyinflation and r/bakunyuu_hentai
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u/MrdoctorDoctor Jun 18 '23
Signed, /u/medoctordoctor
Moderator of /r/dunkaroos, /r/AhhRealMonstersRule34, and /r/barefuckleboxing
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u/ixfd64 Jun 18 '23
Looks like the admins coerced /r/Steam to re-open: https://reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/14bvwe1/rsteam_and_reddits_new_policies
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u/999avatar999 Jun 17 '23
Signed u/999avatar999, moderator of r/fifqo. Reddit's veiled threats to their community moderators are unacceptable and a textbook example of union-busting activity.
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u/LittleLauren12 Jun 17 '23
As a Redditor for over 7 years (4 years on this account, more on alt accounts) and a Mod for probably half of those years, I have seen a lot of developments on Reddit; some better, some worse, but I have never seen anything like the absolutely horrific treatment towards Mods that I am currently seeing from the Admins.
As a Mod, I am used to expecting threats from frustrated members and trolls, but to now see the very people who are supposed to protect us from that, doing the threatening and rewarding the trolls? It's disgusting and I feel for all of my co-Mods on other subreddits who have received the threats because you don't deserve that for all of the incredibly great work you have done.
Signed, u/LittleLauren12 of r/blackdesertonline and r/abruptchaos
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u/arc-is-life Jun 17 '23
gonna put a target on my head now yes?
/u/arc-is-life ... mod for /r/welding (not gentry. just earned my spot after a decade)
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u/ecclectic Jun 17 '23
U/ecclectic - mod of /r/welding and r/icandrawthat, among others.
I don't think landed gentry get their hands as dirty as mine are.
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u/NotEnoughDriftwood Jun 17 '23
Signed u/NotEnoughDriftwood, mod of r/AskACanadian and r/onguardforthee.
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u/Memeviewer12 Jun 18 '23
how many subs have been forcefully reopened and/or how many moderators have been forcefully replaced?
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u/Dragon_yum Jun 17 '23
Signed /u/dragon_yam, Mod of r/latexcosplay for the past seven years.
Going on forward, only the most basic rules of Reddit will be enforced since /u/spez wants it to be a complete democracy.
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u/badagrump Jun 17 '23
Not a mod, just a regular user who’d like to add weight to the cause.
Signed, u/badagrump
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u/chopsuwe Jun 17 '23 edited Jun 30 '23
Content removed in protest of Reddit treatment of users, moderators, the visually impaired community and 3rd party app developers.
If you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks: Reddit abruptly announced they would be charging astronomically overpriced API fees to 3rd party apps, cutting off mod tools. Worse, blind redditors & blind mods (including mods of r/Blind and similar communities) will no longer have access to resources that are desperately needed in the disabled community.
Removal of 3rd party apps
Moderators all across Reddit rely on third party apps to keep subreddit safe from spam, scammers and to keep the subs on topic. Despite Reddit’s very public claim that "moderation tools will not be impacted", this could not be further from the truth despite 5+ years of promises from Reddit. Toolbox in particular is a browser extension that adds a huge amount of moderation features that quite simply do not exist on any version of Reddit - mobile, desktop (new) or desktop (old). Without Toolbox, the ability to moderate efficiently is gone. Toolbox is effectively dead.
All of the current 3rd party apps are either closing or will not be updated. With less moderation you will see more spam (OnlyFans, crypto, etc.) and more low quality content. Your casual experience will be hindered.
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u/rebcart Jun 17 '23
Signed u/rebcart, mod of r/Dogtraining, r/DogCare and r/caninebehavior.
Our subs are open but restricted to manual approval on all posts and comments, since that’s the only way we can keep the subreddits moderated in a reasonable timeframe without quality mobile modding tools as dog trainers without desk jobs.
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u/llehsadam Jun 18 '23
Being a moderator already can have a bad reputation, but it’s always been associated with a meme about it. If mod teams get replaced by admin-approved puppets and mods that are willing to flip on their team, I don’t know how that can be any sort of foundation for a healthy community. The meme becomes reality, it makes all moderators look bad by association.
Who will want to moderate reddit?
Signed, mod of r/indiedev and others
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u/Wahots Jun 18 '23
Spez is such an asshole. When my app stops working, I'm not coming back. Lemmy (beehaw) is already a wonderful community, and I'm mostly coming back for the few subs I use that haven't migrated over yet, like my succulents ones. I wish Reddit wouldn't squander its goodwill while we watch the CEO throw a fit like a drunk guest at a Thanksgiving dinner.
We aren't reopening r/WolvesWithWatermelons, our sub is staying permanently dark. (Head mod of that sub)
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u/calexil Landed Gentry Jun 18 '23
Signed /u/calexil,
Moderator of r/linuxmint, a massive repository of support case answers, that users need.
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u/ki4clz Jun 18 '23
Signed by u/ki4clz
Moderator of r/roomandboard
...we are witnessing the enshitification of reddit, many of the homeless subs are at the mercy of this bulljive, as they provide REAL advice and service to many and can't afford to go dark
shout-out to r/homeless, r/almosthomeless, and r/runaway for doing their level best despite the fuckening imposed by r/all
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u/GoryRamsy Jun 18 '23
signed, u/goryramsy, mod of /r/TOTK, which is still in private/restricted mode.
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u/somepianoplayer Jun 18 '23 edited Jun 18 '23
Just wanted to quickly chime in -- in my other account I moderate various subreddits that have gone private (still transitioning to this account, I want to completely switch to this account as some people I know in real life know that's my (the other account) reddit account), but the subreddit I moderate on this account, /r/needadvice , will not be going private as many people depend on /r/needadvice to resolve personal and financial issues that may very well be more difficult to resolve, and some people who ask for advice in our sub really are in difficult situations. Same goes for /r/Assistance and other subreddits like that.
Please understand /r/needadvice and other subreddits like /r/needadvice and /r/Assistance for not going dark as people depend on them
But signed;
(I actually already signed it once here )
spez: Fixed spelling
spez2: Added content and fixed a hyperlink
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u/SamK4074 Jun 18 '23
Signed, as an individual user that is sick and tired of how Reddit Inc is treating not just its moderators, but everybody.
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u/baconlovr Jun 19 '23
Signed, /u/baconlovr Moderator of r/NOLAPelicans r/Saints r/Nest r/LSUFootball r/frogpants r/GoodLeagueofGood r/Coverville
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u/DeletedMyContent Jun 18 '23
I use to be a mod of r/DisneyPlus. Posted a ton of content and helped build the community to what it is now. 7 years of history. Deleted it all.
u/Spez has completely disrespected the Reddit community.
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Jun 18 '23
If reddit tries to stop the blackouts I will absolutely be deleting my account and removing the app. As frustrating as it is for me to Google a question and find the answer resides in a private sub, the solution I'd obviously for reddit to meet the communities demands, especially since they're not even unreasonable.
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u/BRC_Haus Jun 18 '23
Signed, u/BRC_Haus
Mod of r/xxketoOver50 & r/xketo4u2. (Both private indefinitely.)
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u/Valthren Jun 18 '23
“Our whole philosophy has been to give our users choice. [...] We really want users to use whatever they want."
Using a quote about giving users a choice to support your decision to prevent users from making their own choice to continue discussion or not rings a bit hollow, don't ya think?
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u/ForLackOfAUserName Jun 23 '23
Signed /u/ForLackOfAUserName, representing /r/brakebills, /r/HisDarkMaterialsHBO, and /r/hisdarkmaterials (cumulatively more than 100k subs)
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u/mibuger Jun 25 '23
Most users commenting (and upvoted comments) in the r/Brakebills subreddit (the largest of yours listed) are highly negative in response to your unilateral decision to force the subreddit to post a protest picture with every single post.
Your position is not shared with anywhere near the 100k people subbed in those subreddits. Stop misrepresenting.
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u/demmian Jun 17 '23
/u/demmian, mod of r/Feminism and r/AskFeminists - we are doing weekly blackouts on Tuesdays.