Reddit to remove moderators from private communities if they don't reopen

Reddit has also made it clear they will not allow communities to remain closed past the deadline. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

The Reddit Blackout saw a platform-wide lock of popular forums by moderators in protest over the company's new API pricing policies.

While the forums have mostly resumed post the blackout, Reddit has now issued courtesy notices to communities that are still locked in protest.

Also read | Reddit Blackout Begins as Forums Protest Charges for Developers

As seen by The Verge, the full message informs the community moderators that they will "lose moderator status in the community by end of week". The notice says that if the moderators reply to the notice and let the company know they are "interested in actively moderating" the communities, it will take their request "into consideration".

This messaging has seen a mixed response by the communities with popular threads.

“We see no reason to reopen as I don’t think we’re the bad guys here,” yoasif, an r/firefox moderator told The Verge in an email. “Reddit has had a chance to reconcile with the protest for weeks now, and they haven’t.”

Also read | Reddit’s Chief says he wants it to ‘Grow Up.’ Will its community let it?

Reddit has also made it clear that it will not allow communities to remain closed past the deadline. More than 8,000 communities went dark in protest, but many of them have since reopened. About 2,300 communities still remain private.