Reddit, home to cute cat pictures, investment advice, niche hobby discussions, celebrity interviews, edgy memes, wholesome memes and everything in between, has been facilitating discussions on the internet since 2005. The site has about 57 million daily active users who post and consume news, memes, questions and even stock tips that can roil markets.
The company filed for an initial public offering at the end of 2021. As it prepares to go public, it’s looking to turn a profit for the first time. The company is charging for access to its application programming interface, or API. The price hikes have led some beloved third-party Reddit apps such as Apollo to shut down, instigating an uproar among the website’s community of volunteer moderators, who often rely on third-party apps to run the site’s 100,000+ discussion communities, called subreddits.
Despite extensive protests in which thousands of moderators took their communities private, the API pricing changes took effect July 1 as planned. Under pressure from Reddit admins, nearly all communities have reopened. But tensions remain high, and some say that if Reddit doesn’t rebuild trust, its most passionate users will go elsewhere.
“Reddit is nothing without those communities. They need us far more than we need them,” said David DeWald, a moderator of the r/Arcade1up subreddit and a community manager for the telecommunications company Ciena.
The rise of Reddit
When Reddit co-founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman were in their senior year at the University of Virginia, startup accelerator Y Combinator was just getting off the ground. The two had met founder Paul Graham at a talk, and he suggested that the recent graduates build what he called “the front page of the Internet.” Ohanian and Huffman jumped at the chance. Y Combinator invested just $12,000 in 2005, and Reddit officially became a part of its first batch of companies.
“For the first probably like month, month and a half, a good number of the folks posting were just me and Steve under usernames that we just invented from like objects in the room, just random stuff just so that it would look like there was some activity,” Ohanian said.
Reddit founders Alexis Ohanian (L) and Steve Huffman (R)
Reddit
But real user activity picked up, and just 16 months after its founding, Reddit was acquired for $10 million by Condé Nast. By 2010, co-founders Ohanian and Huffman were no longer involved in day-to-day operations, but traffic was booming. In 2011, Reddit was spun out as an independent company, operating as a subsidiary of Condé Nast’s owner, Advance Publications.
“I think it was fashionable back then to want to just grow and Facebook had proven out so well that if you focus on growth and then have a critical mass of users, you could make money,” Ohanian said.
On the one hand, Reddit’s niche communities were ideal places for target advertising, but the company’s permissive attitude toward questionable content also posed a problem.
“Reddit is kind of a perfect environment for advertising because the communities can get so specific and so passionate about whatever it is that they’re discussing,” said Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. “But Reddit has had challenges over the years with hate speech and other things that are maybe not brand-friendly.”
Ohanian rejoined Reddit as executive chairman in 2014 and Huffman rejoined as CEO the next year. This time around, Ohanian said, he wanted to reign in some of the site’s more toxic subcultures. In 2015, a new anti-harassment policy led to the banning of some hateful communities, but certainly not all.
Then, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Ohanian resigned from the company’s board, urging Reddit to replace him with a Black candidate, which the company honored.
“I hoped that Reddit would finally get a hate policy so that we could ban those thousands of hate communities that were up, which happened, you know, a few weeks after I resigned,” Ohanian said. Reddit ultimately banned about 2,000 subreddits, including r/The_Donald, r/ChapoTrapHouse and r/gendercritical.
Now, Reddit wants to turn a profit. With companies such as OpenAI and Google scraping the internet to train large language models, Reddit wants them to pay for its data. Huffman announced in April that Reddit would start charging for access to its API, the gateway through which companies can download all of Reddit’s user-generated content.
But it’s not just tech giants who use Reddit’s API. Many popular third-party mobile apps and moderator tools also rely on API access, which was previously free. These third-party apps are largely just alternatives to Reddit’s official mobile app, which didn’t even exist until 2016. But when developers learned about the new pricing structure at the end of May, many realized they couldn’t afford it.
“Most companies, whenever they have significant API changes, you know, they give anywhere from like three to sometimes like 15 months for developers to acclimate to these big changes,” said Dac Croach, a moderator of the r/Gaming subreddit, now the third-largest community on the site. “And with Reddit kind of coming out of the gate and saying, you know, you have 30 days to figure this out […] I mean, that is an impossible task for many of those third-party developers.”
The developer of Apollo said it would cost him over $20 million per year to operate given the new pricing structure. Apollo shut down, along with other popular third-party apps such as rif is fun, Reddplanet and Sync, a blow to their loyal users who said they have sleeker user interfaces and more features than the official Reddit app.
Jakub Porzycki | Getty Images
The pricing changes caused a particular uproar in a subreddit for blind users, who relied upon many of the third-party apps’ accessibility features. Blind moderators claim it’s very difficult to moderate on mobile using Reddit’s app, something Reddit says it’s currently working to improve.
In total, over 8,000 subreddits participated in a sitewide blackout from June 12 to June 14 to protest the changes. Many communities stayed closed much longer, while others labeled themselves “Not safe for work,” automatically making them ineligible spaces for advertising.
While most communities have returned to business as usual, there are some notable exceptions. For example, the r/pics and r/gifs subreddits are now limited to featuring pics and gifs of comedian John Oliver. The moderators of the popular Ask Me Anything subreddit said they will no longer organize interviews with celebrities and other high-profile figures, which has long been a major driver of engagement.
“They’re not burning things down. They’re saying, hey, you know, you didn’t listen to me then, can you listen to me now?” said Croach.
Now, as Reddit marches toward an IPO, the tech world is watching to see how these tensions play out.
“Everyone in this situation is passionate for the success of Reddit. Reddit needs to realize that passion is what’s driving all of this anger,” said DeWald of the r/Arcade1up subreddit. “They need to work with us and work with other moderators and work with the app developers to find a solution that’s better for everyone, including Reddit, because Reddit needs us to be there.”
In this photo illustration, iPhone screens display various social media apps on the screens on February 9, 2025 in Bath, England.
Anna Barclay | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said on Friday that it had preliminarily found both TikTok and Meta in breach of its transparency rules.
It accused the U.S. tech giants of breaching their obligation to give researchers “adequate access” to public data under the Digital Services Act (DSA) — the EU’s landmark tech legislation.
“The Commission also preliminarily found Meta, for both Instagram and Facebook, in breach of its obligations to provide users simple mechanisms to notify illegal content, as well as to allow them to effectively challenge content moderation decisions,” it added in a statement.
The Digital Services Act is among a handful of EU legislation designed to keep the power of Big Tech in check. The Commission has also opened numerous investigations under another landmark law known as the Digital Markets Act.
“We disagree with any suggestion that we have breached the DSA, and we continue to negotiate with the European Commission on these matters,” Meta spokesperson Ben Walters said in a statement.
“In the European Union, we have introduced changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force and are confident that these solutions match what is required under the law in the EU,” he added.
A TikTok spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that it “is committed to transparency and values the contribution of researchers” to its platform and social media industry as a whole.
“We have made substantial investments in data sharing and almost 1000 research teams have been given access to data through our Research Tools to date,” the spokesperson said.
“We are reviewing the European Commission’s findings, but requirements to ease data safeguards place the DSA and GDPR in direct tension. If it is not possible to fully comply with both, we urge regulators to provide clarity on how these obligations should be reconciled,” they added.
The EU says researchers should have access to social media platforms’ data, as this enables the public to scrutinize any potential physical or mental health impacts of the technology.
The Commission said in its preliminary findings that Facebook, Instagram and TikTok “may have put in place burdensome procedures and tools for researchers to request access to public data. This often leaves them with partial or unreliable data, impacting their ability to conduct research, such as whether users, including minors, are exposed to illegal or harmful content.”
The tech companies are now invited by the Commission to examine its findings and reply in writing.
If the Commission’s preliminary findings are upheld, it has the power to issue a non-compliance decision which could carry with it a fine of up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover — a hefty amount for Meta and TikTok owner ByteDance.
Meta also faced a 200 million euros ($228.4 million) fine under the Digital Markets Act in April, as the Commission flexed its new competition powers for the first time. The fine was related to how users consented to data collection.
Meanwhile, TikTok’s transfer of data to China also resulted in it being handed a 530 million euros fine by the protection authority in Ireland earlier this year.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during an announcement regarding his administration’s policies against cartels and human trafficking, from the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 23, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
China on Thursday concluded its “Fourth Plenum,” a meeting aimed at setting out the country’s development agenda for the next five years. Beijing will focus on domestic consumption, self-reliance in technology as well as the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
In the U.S. economy and markets — generally considered the exemplar of free-market capitalism — the government’s handprints have started becoming visible, if you squint a little.
Trump, who terminated trade negotiations with Canada over an ad, pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the White House said Thursday. Zhao was convicted in April 2024 for enabling money laundering at Binance.
The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the Trump family’s crypto venture has been helped by “a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance.”
Even corporate earnings had the mark of the White House.
But it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room, that is, the U.S. government’s 10% stake in the company, acquired in August. The company’s stock has seen a massive surge since that acquisition, with President Donald Trump saying the government has made $30 billion to $40 billion on its stake. The transaction, however, complicates Intel’s accounting practices for its income, the company suggested in a press release.
Trump’s proclivity for acquiring stakes in U.S. companies and his other dealings that seem to blur the personal with the professional raise the question: are we seeing a four-year U.S. economic plan — with a twist — unfold?
What you need to know today
Trump terminates trade talks with Canada. The U.S. president appeared to take umbrage with an ad, aired by Ontario provincial government, featuring Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. Trump also accused Canada of attempting to influence the U.S. Supreme Court’s case regarding tariffs.
[PRO] Time to consider dividend stocks, CIO says. As interest rates come down, in accordance with market expectations, such stocks should get a boost, according to Kevin Simpson, founder and chief investment officer at Capital Wealth Planning.
And finally…
A shopper looks at produce at a grocery store in West Milton, Ohio, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during an announcement regarding his administration’s policies against cartels and human trafficking, from the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 23, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
China on Thursday concluded its “Fourth Plenum,” a meeting aimed at setting out the country’s development agenda for the next five years. Beijing will focus on domestic consumption, self-reliance in technology as well as the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
In the U.S. economy and markets — generally considered the exemplar of free-market capitalism — the government’s fingerprints have started becoming visible, if you squint a little.
For instance, Intel reported third-quarter revenue that surpassed analysts’ expectations, helping the stock jump 7.7% in extended trading. Intel said demand for its processors appears to be recovering.
But it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room, that is, the U.S. government’s 10% stake in the company, acquired in August. The company’s stock has seen a massive surge since that acquisition, with President Donald Trump saying the government has made $30 billion to $40 billion on its stake. The transaction, however, complicates Intel’s accounting practices for its income, the company suggested in a press release.
Trump, meanwhile, pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the White House said Thursday. Zhao was convicted in April 2024 for enabling money laundering at Binance.
When asked why Trump pardoned Zhao, the president said, “A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything. And so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the Trump family’s crypto venture has been helped by “a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance.”
Trump’s proclivity for acquiring stakes in U.S. companies and his other dealings raise the question: are we seeing a four-year U.S. economic plan — with a twist — unfold?
What you need to know today
Intel beats revenue expectations. Third-quarter sales came in at $13.65 billion, higher than the $13.14 billion from an LSEG consensus estimate. Intel added that demand for its chips outstripped supply.
China to encourage consumption over the next five years. Top government leaders emphasized the need to “vigorously boost consumption” in the domestic economy, a readout of China’s “Fourth Plenum” meeting said, according to a CNBC translation.
[PRO] Time to consider dividend stocks, CIO says. As interest rates come down, in accordance with market expectations, such stocks should get a boost, according to Kevin Simpson, founder and chief investment officer at Capital Wealth Planning.
And finally…
Russian President Vladimir Putin observes the Russia-Belarus joint military exercises, codenamed Zapad-2025 (West-2025), at the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia September 16, 2025.
Just days after a “very productive” phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Trump changed tack on Wednesday, voicing his frustration with Moscow. “We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It just, it didn’t feel right to meet,” he said Wednesday.
Trump’s comments on Putin were not highlighted by pro-Kremlin state media outlets such as TASS, Radio Sputnik and RIA Novosti on Thursday, with barely a mention of the criticism or the canceled meeting.
