Reddit Increases Admin Control Over Community Settings Amidst Protests

Reddit announced today that it is tightening its grip on community management by strengthening its staff’s control over subreddit settings.

Starting today, moderators will need to submit a request to Reddit administrators whenever they want to change a community’s type—whether it’s Public, Restricted, Private, SFW, or NSFW.

This new policy comes in response to the protests against Reddit’s controversial API pricing changes last year, as noted by The Verge.

Last year, thousands of subreddits switched to private, effectively restricting access to their content and contributing to the shutdown of several apps and communities.

The Verge points out that going private was effective during the protests for making a statement and raising awareness. It effectively restricted access to content that Reddit users expected to remain public, which negatively impacted search visibility on platforms like Google.

During the protests, Reddit communicated with moderators of these communities. They warned that posts would be removed unless the subreddits were reopened, as noted by The Verge. During the protests, Reddit communicated with moderators of these communities. They warned that posts would be removed unless the subreddits were reopened, as noted by The Verge.

The platform also stated that designating a subreddit as NSFW (Not Safe For Work)—a tactic used by some moderators to limit access and exclude it from advertising—was deemed “not acceptable,” reported The Verge.

Reddit’s VP of Community, Laura Nestler, known as u/Go_JasonWaterfalls, wrote on the announcement, “The ability to instantly change Community Type settings has been used to break the platform and violate our rules.”

Reddit stated that the purpose of this update is to minimize disruptions on the platform and ensure adherence to its rules. They stressed that the intent of the update is not to hinder users from expressing their protests.

Reddit stated that it will review requests to change community types within 24 hours, every day of the year. For communities with fewer than 5,000 members or those less than 30 days old, requests will be automatically approved.

Moderators still have the option to temporarily restrict posts or comments for up to seven days without approval by using a feature called “Temporary Events,” which can be useful during live events or emergencies.

In cases where a mod team decides to step down, Reddit’s admins will assist in finding new moderators while temporarily restricting the community.

TechCrunch reports that Reddit shared this update in advance with the Mod Council, which includes over 100 moderators from various subreddits, to gather their feedback and advice.