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Some of Reddit’s most popular communities are going dark today in protest against “ludicrous” pricing changes.

The platform’s main subreddits for gaming, which has more than 37 million members; music, which has 32.3 million; and r/todayilearned, a page dedicated to sharing facts with 31.8 million users are among those shutting down.

Pages dedicated to specific fandoms, including Harry Potter and Taylor Swift, have also decided to go offline.

While some communities taking part in the blackout have said they will return after 48 hours, others suggest they may not come back until Reddit backtracks on its upcoming changes.

What are the changes?

In April, Reddit announced it would start charging for developers to access its API – that stands for application programming interface.

It’s what allows third parties to access information on the platform, most importantly so developers can run alternate smartphone apps for users who don’t like Reddit’s official one.

Until now, accessing the API was free for all – but charges will be introduced from 19 June.

Hold on, explain the API again…

Reddit’s database is chock-full of everything that makes up Reddit – the posts, the comments, the profiles and so on.

Whenever you use a Reddit app, you are essentially asking the platform’s API for permission to look at the posts, comments and profiles you want to see.

Like the staff at the entrance to a British museum, until now it had just waved you through with no cash required – but now it’s demanding payment.

That’s not an issue if you’re going directly through Reddit, either via the web or its app, but it means for third-party developers the cost gets passed on to them.

And it’s about to get expensive?

Reddit has not publicly revealed the exact pricing details, but the makers of the popular third-party app Apollo have claimed they would be charged more than $20m (£15.9m) a year at their current rate of API usage.

“The price they gave was $0.24 for 1,000 API calls,” said a post on Apollo’s own subreddit (a “call” being one of those aforementioned requests).

“With my current usage [that] would cost almost $2m per month, or over $20m per year.”

Pic: AP
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Subreddits dedicated to Taylor Swift and Harry Potter are among those going offline. Pic: AP
Hogwarts Legacy lets players explore JK Rowling's wizarding world. Pic: WB Games
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Pic: WB Games

Why can’t people just use the official app?

What’s crucial here is while Reddit launched way back in 2005, it didn’t release its own app until 2016.

It meant that for years, users had to rely on third-party apps, and many became so used to their preferred choice that they’ve stuck with them and never turned to the official one.

Popular options include Apollo, Narwhal, Relay, and Infinity.

These apps differentiate themselves from the official Reddit one with their own aesthetic and features, and are shielded from unpopular changes Reddit makes to its own app.

Apollo, Reddit Is Fun, Sync, and ReddPlanet have all said they will be forced to shut down on 30 June, while others could follow suit or start charging their users to keep up with costs.

What have the subreddits going offline said?

Some communities that decided to go dark today did so after consulting with their members.

R/gaming said its members were “overwhelmingly in support of the blackout”, as it said Reddit’s API changes would make third-party apps “ludicrously more expensive for developers to run”.

The music subreddit, which won’t be accessible by members or general visitors for 48 hours, encouraged people to contact Reddit to make clear their opposition to the new policy.

Moderators of the Harry Potter subreddit have written an open letter, urging Reddit to reconsider the API charges to “preserve the rich ecosystem” that has developed around the platform.

The Taylor Swift subreddit, among others, has also raised concerns about the impact on users with disabilities, saying some third-party apps offer much better accessibility options than Reddit.

What has Reddit said?

Reddit has defended the impending API charges, saying the platform needs to be “fairly paid”.

“Expansive access to data has impact and costs involved; we spend multi-millions of dollars on hosting fees and Reddit needs to be fairly paid to continue supporting high-usage third-party apps,” said a statement to Sky News.

“Our pricing is based on usage levels that we measure to be comparable to our own costs.”

The company said developers could make their maps “more efficient” to reduce the number of API calls required, adding that access would also remain free for moderator tools and bots.

It added: “We’re committed to fostering a safe and responsible developer ecosystem around Reddit – developers and third-party apps can make Reddit better and do so in a sustainable and mutually-beneficial partnership, while also keeping our users and data safe.”

It comes as the company lays off 90 employees, about 5% of its workforce, to cut costs.

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Rightmove: ‘First drop’ in house rent prices outside London since before the COVID pandemic

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Rightmove: 'First drop' in house rent prices outside London since before the COVID pandemic

The average asking price to rent a home outside London has fallen for the first time since before the COVID pandemic, according to a property website.

Rightmove credited improved levels of rental properties for the welcome shift, but declared that advertised private rents in the capital continued to tick up, for a 13th consecutive quarter, between October to December.

It reported an average sum of £2,695 per calendar month (pcm) for London, though that was only 0.1% higher than the previous quarter.

The rest of Britain had an average newly advertised rent of £1,341 pcm – down 0.2%.

The trend for the country as a whole is of a price slowdown following years of unprecedented growth that has resulted in successive monthly highs.

Rents are currently 4.7% up on a year earlier, the slowest rate of growth since 2021.

The property website said a rising supply of rental homes to choose from was improving the balance of supply and demand, although there were typically still 10 applications being made for every rental property.

It also suggested that many tenants had shifted their focus towards the sales market due to continued steep competition for rentals and as borrowing costs were now down from cost of living crisis peaks.

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Social housing complaints surge

Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock said: “While new tenants are still paying more than they were at this time last year, the pace of growth continues to slow.

“However, though this is the big picture of market activity, agents on the ground still tell us that the market is very hot, and some areas have improved more than others when it comes to the supply and demand balance.”

The northeast of England was said to have seen the biggest boost to supply, with Wales the smallest.

Alex Bloxham, a partner and head of residential lettings at the consultancy Bidwells, said: “These figures suggest landlords are continuing to invest in their buy-to-let portfolios, while more tenants are choosing to stay put, likely due to continued macroeconomic uncertainty and the up-front costs involved in relocating.”

The debt charity StepChange reacted to the figures by saying that they were unlikely to bring any immediate relief to millions of families grappling with higher bills.

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Water bills ‘an absolute disgrace’

Its recent polling suggested that 22% of people renting privately were always worried about money, with rents just one elevated cost to bear as many other bills such as those for food and energy show little sign of easing.

Water and council tax costs are also due to rise sharply from April.

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The charity’s Richard Lane added: “We’re pleased to see the Renters Rights Bill progressing through parliament, which will end section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions – a long overdue piece of legislation.

“However, we’ve long called for strengthened protections for private renters facing financial hardship.

“Our research shows that a significant proportion of private renters are having to rely on credit just to cover their rent, which is unsustainable and will only trap people in a cycle of problem debt.

“If you are struggling with rent arrears or any other type of debt, free and impartial advice is available from charities like StepChange.”

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DeepSeek: US tech stocks tumble on fears of cheaper Chinese AI

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DeepSeek: US tech stocks tumble on fears of cheaper Chinese AI

US tech firms exposed to big artificial intelligence (AI) investments are seeing their shares take a hammering over the emergence of a low-cost Chinese competitor.

The likes of Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Alphabet all saw their stocks come under pressure as investors questioned whether their share prices, already widely viewed as overblown following an AI-led frenzy, were justified.

Some market analysts put the combined losses in market value, across US tech, at more than $1trn (£802bn).

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Leading AI chipmaker Nvidia’s shares bled 11% in early Wall Street dealing alone, while the tech-focused Nasdaq slid by more than 3%.

The declines were all put down to the emergence late last week of a Chinese AI chatbot that uses lower-cost chips.

Start-up DeepSeek launched a free assistant that, it said, uses less data at a fraction of the cost of incumbent players’ own large language assistants.

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Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, said the claims had placed in doubt the market’s AI-led dominance of the past two years that have seen AI-linked stocks repeatedly hit new highs.

DeepSeek launched a free assistant it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of the major players in the industry
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DeepSeek launched a free assistant it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost. Pic: Reuters

He said of the repercussions: “It could mean less demand for chips, less need for a massive build-out of power production to fuel the models, and less need for large-scale data centres.

“However, it could also mean that AI becomes more accessible and help kickstart the development of a wide array of useful applications,” he added.

DeepSeek’s AI assistant is certainly proving popular, becoming the top-rated free application available on Apple’s App Store in the US after, overtaking ChatGPT.

It has even attracted praise from US rivals for the assistant’s performance, despite questions continuing to swirl over the 2023-founded company’s technological development.

It was achieved despite tech export controls, designed to protect US patents, imposed on China by president Joe Biden in 2021.

The share price movements will likely be of concern to his successor in the White House, Donald Trump, who has long accused Chinese firms of profiting from US technology.

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It also remains to be seen whether he will see the competition as aggressive towards US firms, having already indicated he is minded to allow Chinese-owned TikTok to escape a US ban but through shared ownership to help offset national security concerns.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “The US government – both under Donald Trump and previously under Joe Biden – have been trying to stop China from accessing Western technology.

“That strategy might have backfired as it looks to have encouraged China to ramp up efforts to build its own technology and we’re now seeing evidence that the country is making waves.”

Market experts said AI customers could ultimately benefit from a share price bounce once the market settled due to improved competition bringing down prices.

Away from the United States, another company licking its wounds on Monday was SoftBank, the Japanese investment firm.

Its shares were 8% down on the day, erasing all the gains seen since last week when Mr Trump announced SoftBank was part of an investment of up to $500bn (£400bn) in US AI infrastructure.

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Hobbycraft-owner Modella circles WH Smith high street chain

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Hobbycraft-owner Modella circles WH Smith high street chain

The owner of Hobbycraft is among a pack of suitors circling WH Smith, the 233-year-old high street chain which has been put up for sale.

Sky News has learnt that Modella Capital, whose executives have previously been involved in retailers including Paperchase and Tie Rack, is one of a handful of parties to have held discussions with WH Smith and its advisers.

The likelihood of Modella completing a deal to acquire the 500-store chain was unclear on Monday.

Modella’s executives include Steve Curtis, whose biography on the firm’s website describes his “successful transactions [as including] Jigsaw, Paperchase, Feather & Black, Rolling Luggage and Tie Rack”.

One of the firm’s investment advisers is Jamie Constable, a prominent turnaround investor who is associated with firms including Rcapital, Quilam Capital and Blazehill Capital.

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City sources said that WH Smith – which confirmed at the weekend that it was considering a sale of the business following a Sky News report – was keen to wrap up a deal during the spring.

The disposal would, if completed, leave London-listed WH Smith as a company focused on its more lucrative travel retail operation in airports, railway stations and hospitals, which comprises about 1,200 stores globally.

Modella is said to be bidding against a number of other experienced retail investors, including the Apollo-backed firm Alteri, which owns the Bensons for Beds chain.

WH Smith, which is being advised by bankers at Greenhill, declined to comment on Monday, while Modella has been contacted for comment.

A sale of its high street arm would mark a watershed moment for the UK high street, which first saw the appearance of the name in 1792.

The business, which specialises in selling items such as greeting cards and stationery, employs about 5,000 people across the country.

Run by Carl Cowling, chief executive, the disposal of its high street arm and repositioning as a pure-play travel retail company was welcomed by investors on Monday, with shares in WH Smith rising by about 2.5%.

The division recorded flat operating profit of £32m last year, with WH Smith’s travel business accounting for 75% of the company’s revenue and 85% of trading profit.

There have been questions about the future of WH Smith’s high street division for many years amid carnage elsewhere in the sector, with the likes of BHS, Debenhams and Comet all ceasing to trade from physical stores in the last 15 years.

Last week, it emerged that roughly 15 WH Smith shops would be closed this year – part of an annual rationalisation of its store estate.

In 2006, the company’s news distribution arm, now known as Smiths News, was demerged into a separate London-listed company.

Reiterating its weekend response to Sky News’s report, WH Smith told the London Stock Exchange on Monday: “WH Smith plc notes the recent press speculation regarding its high street business.

“WHSmith confirms that it is exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash-generating part of the group, including a possible sale.

“Over the past decade, WHSmith has become a focused global travel retailer. The group’s travel business has over 1,200 stores across 32 countries, and three-quarters of the group’s revenue and 85% of its trading profit comes from the travel business.

“There can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached, and further updates will be provided as and when appropriate.”

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