Reddit CEO: We’re Sticking With API Changes, Despite Subreddits Going Dark

Despite facing protests from users, Reddit’s CEO is refusing to back down on charging for access to the social media platform’s API, even though it’ll shut down some third-party apps. 

According to Reddit’s chief executive Steve Huffman, it’s become too costly to keep the API access free when the platform itself is struggling to make ends meet. “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,” he said in a post(Opens in a new window) on Friday. 

Huffman made the statement when a growing number of Reddit communities plan to go dark on June 12 to protest the company’s decision to charge access to the API. This includes asking for $0.24 per 1,000 API calls.  

The new pricing structure has caused third-party Reddit client Apollo to announce it’s shutting down on June 30 because it would cost $20 million a year to run the app under the API change. In response, Reddit’s CEO held an Ask Me Anything(Opens in a new window) on Friday to defend the coming API change, which will take effect on July 1. 

(Credit: Getty Images)

Huffman emphasized that 90% of third-party apps will still be able to access Reddit’s API for free. That’s because the company is offering free API access for apps that only require 100 API or 10 API queries per minute, depending on the client ID. In addition, “non-commercial, accessibility-focused apps and tools will continue to have free access.”

But for other apps that need a higher API access rate, Huffman conceded they’ll need to pay up. “Some apps such as Apollo, Reddit is Fun, and Sync have decided this pricing doesn’t work for their businesses and will close before pricing goes into effect,” he wrote. 

Reddit’s CEO was then asked about concerns the social media platform had become too focused on generating profits. However, Huffman didn’t try to sugarcoat Reddit’s effort to generate revenue.  “We’ll continue to be profit-driven until profits arrive. Unlike some of the 3P [third-party] apps, we are not profitable,” he said(Opens in a new window). 

In another move that might irk users, Huffman said Reddit will also limit third-party apps from accessing mature content through the platform’s data API. “It’s a constant fight to keep this content at all,” Huffman said of the change. “We are going to keep it. But the regulatory environment has gotten much stricter about adult content, and as a result we have to be strict / conservative about where it shows up.”

In his AMA, Huffman also took a few shots at Apollo’s developer Christian Selig. Yesterday, Selig claimed Reddit has been telling other developers that he tried to blackmail(Opens in a new window) the social media platform. According to Selig, what really happened is that Reddit misinterpreted(Opens in a new window) a remark he made as a threat.

When asked about the blackmail allegations, Huffman said: Selig’s “behavior and communications with us has been all over the place—saying one thing to us while saying something completely different externally; recording and leaking a private phone call—to the point where I don’t know how we could do business with him.”

Selig shot back(Opens in a new window), saying “Do you genuinely not see how you making up stories about blackmail and threats would be what leads to difficulty working together, not me defending myself?”