Reddit has recently informed moderators of protesting communities that are still private that they will lose their moderator status by the end of the week. This news comes from messages seen by The Verge. However, if a moderator expresses their interest in actively moderating the subreddit, Reddit states that it will take their request into consideration.
The message shared by Reddit reads as follows: “After sending a modmail message on June 27, 2023, your mod team indicated that you do not want to reopen the [name of subreddit] community. This is a courtesy notice to let you know that you will lose moderator status in the community by the end of the week. If you reply to let us know you’re interested in actively moderating this community, we will take your request into consideration.”
It has been observed through message threads that some moderators of particular subreddits do want to reopen, but they believe that changes need to be made by Reddit before they do so.
An r/firefox moderator, yoasif, sent an email to The Verge stating, “We see no reason to reopen as I don’t think we’re the bad guys here. Reddit has had a chance to reconcile with the protest for weeks now, and they haven’t.” As of now, the r/firefox subreddit remains private.
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Earlier this week, Reddit hinted at taking action against moderators with escalating messages. The Reddit admin account called ModCodeofConduct requested that some private subreddit moderators inform them within 48 hours if they planned to reopen their communities.
However, when some moderators responded, the admin took a much more aggressive approach. ModCodeofConduct stated in a message seen by The Verge, “This community remaining closed to its [millions of] members cannot continue” past the given deadline. The admin added, “This community will not remain private beyond the timeframe we’ve allowed for confirmation of plans here.” ModCodeofConduct also argued that switching to private as a form of protest violates the Moderator Code of Conduct.
At the time of writing, Reddit has not responded to requests for comment regarding these recent developments.
While more than 8,000 communities went dark earlier this month in protest against Reddit’s upcoming API pricing changes, many subreddits have since reopened. According to a tracker, there are just over 2,300 subreddits that remain private or restricted in some form.
In conclusion, Reddit has informed moderators of protesting communities that if they continue to remain private, they will lose their mod status by the end of the week. Some moderators have expressed their desire to reopen, but they believe that Reddit needs to make changes before they do so. The situation is still ongoing, and the number of private or restricted subreddits has decreased, with many communities reopening. Reddit has faced criticism for its handling of the situation and has yet to comment on the recent developments.
