Reddit moderators who participated in protests against the company’s API charges say that they have been replaced by individuals who lack subject matter expertise. They say this is leading to dangerous advice being posted and going unchallenged in subreddits ranging from food canning to 3D printing of firearms …
Why Reddit moderators were removed: A quick recap
Reddit got itself into a mess when it decided to charge unrealistic amounts for access to the API that powered third-party (former) apps like Apollo. That resulted in wide-scale protests by moderators and users alike, with the company threatening them in response.
One specific concern was the impact on disabled moderators, who had relied on the accessibility features of third-party apps.
While many subreddits went dark, limiting access to existing members, some others came up with a clever alternative: applying a NFSW label, which prevented Reddit from selling ads in them. Subreddits that adopted this tactic include r/HomeKit and r/HomePod.
Reddit staff subsequently removed moderators who declined to end their protests.
Now leading to dangerous advice
One of the key roles of moderators is to look out for incorrect advice being offered – most critically, when following it could put people in danger. Arstechnica reports multiple examples of such posts remaining up, because replacement moderators lack the necessary expertise.
One example was in r/canning, where improper practices can lead to botulism, which can be fatal.
Dromio05 showed me several posts he deemed questionable since Reddit took away his own mod badge. For example, this post shares a link to an article about “rebel canners,” which Dromio05 argues “gives a public platform to people who openly encourage methods and recipes that are known to be unsafe, like canning milk and open kettle canning.” The post is labeled unsafe, but Dromio05 would have removed the link to the article.
Another cited example is this recipe for canned sauce. It includes already-canned tomatoes, which experts like the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) recommend against, as there’s no safe tested process for this.
In r/homeautomation, a warning about the dangers of working on home electrical circuits without proper knowledge and precautions is no longer visible on the new Reddit.
In the 3D printing subreddit r/ender3, one newly-appointed moderator said he only volunteered as a joke, as he has never even touched a 3D printer in his life. Yet the moderator’s role can again call for significant expertise to identify unsafe and illegal posts, as a sacked moderator explained.
Deskparser’s work also involved moderating content around 3D-printing guns, following a rule that permitted non-functional “display and cosplay pieces,” Deskparser said.
“Enforcing that rule required attention every week, often several times a week, due to users not really knowing what a truly ‘functional’ firearm print looked like, which we did get quite a few of,” Deskparser explained.
The above photo shows a fully-functional pistol which took less than a day to 3D print and assemble.
The lengthy piece details a wide range of other issues caused by the loss of long-standing moderators, and the API policy.
Photo: Ousama Farag/CBC
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