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Severity
88 / 100▼8
TERMINALremissionpeak 99ranked #1 of 42people’s rank #1 · preview
Case 001 · Social · Admitted 2023
The Enshittification of Reddit
The Enshittification of RedditReddit, long reliant on volunteer moderators and an open API, began monetizing access to its platform and data ahead of its 2024 IPO. In 2023 it introduced API pricing that shut down major third-party apps, prompting a sitewide moderator protest, and it tightened ad and privacy settings. In 2024 it signed data licensing deals with Google and OpenAI and restricted public access to user-generated content.
First symptom
Apr 2023
Symptoms on file
10
Categories
6
Prognosis
Terminal
2 privacy · 2 quality · 3 pricing · 1 ads · 1 features · 1 lock-in
Alternatives
The Paper Trail
| Date | Category | Symptom · rating · source |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-04 | pricing | Reddit announces it will charge for API accessReddit said it would begin charging companies for access to its API, which had been free since 2008, citing the value of its data for training large language models.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2023-05 | pricing | API pricing would cost Apollo $20 million yearlyApollo developer Christian Selig disclosed that Reddit's new API pricing of $12,000 per 50 million requests would cost the third-party app about $1.7 million per month, or roughly $20 million per year.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2023-06 | pricing | Apollo and other third-party apps announce shutdownsApollo announced it would shut down on June 30, 2023, because of Reddit's API pricing; Reddit is Fun, Sync and other third-party clients announced shutdowns around the same time.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2023-06 | quality | Thousands of subreddits go dark in protestMore than 8,000 subreddits went private or read-only in a coordinated 48-hour protest against the API pricing changes, briefly causing Reddit itself to go down.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2023-06 | quality | CEO threatens rule changes targeting protesting moderatorsCEO Steve Huffman said Reddit was considering rule changes that would let users vote out moderators of protesting subreddits, comparing existing moderators to 'landed gentry,' and the company moved to keep protesting communities open.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2023-07 | features | Reddit eliminates Gold awards and coins systemReddit announced it was ending its Gold awards and coins system; users could no longer buy coins, and existing awards would be usable only until September 12, 2023.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2023-09 | ads | Reddit removes opt-out for ad personalizationReddit removed users' ability to opt out of ad personalization based on their on-platform activity, retaining opt-out controls only in select countries.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2024-02 | privacy | Reddit licenses user content to Google for AIAhead of its IPO filing, Reddit disclosed data licensing deals worth $203 million in total contract value, including an agreement reported at about $60 million per year giving Google access to Reddit content for AI model training.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2024-05 | lock-in | New policy requires contracts for public data useReddit rolled out a Public Content Policy stating that commercial use of its data, including for AI training, now requires a paid contract with the company.↳ TechCrunch |
| 2024-05 | privacy | OpenAI signs deal to train AI on Reddit dataReddit and OpenAI announced a partnership giving OpenAI access to Reddit's Data API to train models and surface Reddit content in ChatGPT, with OpenAI also becoming a Reddit advertising partner.↳ TechCrunch |
The Wall
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<a href="https://enshittification.xyz/reddit"><img src="https://enshittification.xyz/badge/reddit.svg" alt="Reddit on the Enshittification Index"></a>The Enshittification Index · 42 case files · no source, no entry · updated Jun 2026
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