this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2024
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I mean, they never claimed it was to protect users. It was to protect their user's data from being used without paying Reddit. They didn't like that AI companies were using Reddit content as a free source of training data, they never gave a shit about their users' privacy.
This is also slightly off. It was primarily to eliminate third party apps from the existing landscape. Reddit want money from users in one of two ways:
Due to the extortionate pricing, (2) was only ever hypothetical. In reality there was no sustainable model for this for any third party app, even as a non-profit.
The case around AI does exist, but it was smoke and mirrors for Reddit pulling the same nonsense that Twitter did once they realized they might get away with it, regardless of the short term damage it would do to their public image.
I think the 3rd party apps very a nice bonus but considering the timing I'm pretty sure the AI boom was the main reason.
I mean, yeah, doesn't everyone?