Amid protests, Reddit seeks to force subreddits to reopen

The Reddit Blackout protesting the company’s unpopular API changes is continuing, nearly five days after the “48-hour” action started on Monday. But, contrary to what Reddit is saying publicly, it seems like the company has had enough of the protests.On Friday, moderators of popular Reddit communities began sharing messages they received from the company pressuring them to reopen the subreddits they moderate, or face removal as a mod of the community.  SEE ALSO: Reddit CEO doubles down on API changes The message stands in stark contrast to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman’s comments throughout the past few days. Earlier this week, Huffman downplayed the protest and any impact it was having on Reddit’s business. Thousands of subreddits went private on Monday in order to push Reddit to reconsider its plan to charge exorbitant fees for API access to third-party developers who create Reddit-based apps. Reddit’s decision to charge as much as millions of dollars per year has already forced indie developers, like the one behind the popular Apollo for Reddit client, to shut down their apps.Then, just yesterday, in an interview with The Verge, Huffman claimed that the company wasn’t looking to force mods to reopen subreddits that continue to protest. Reddit also sent Mashable a “Key Facts” sheet with information about the API changes and the company’s position on the protest.”We are not shutting down discussions or unilaterally reopening communities,” reads one section of the PDF. “Dissent, debate, and discussions are foundational parts of Reddit. We respect our communities’ ability…Amid protests, Reddit seeks to force subreddits to reopen