Reddit Is Killing RSS Feeds, Ending Public API Access (techcrunch.com)
- Reference: 0185910542
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/09/30/1841213/reddit-is-killing-rss-feeds-ending-public-api-access
- Source link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/reddit-is-killing-rss-feeds-ending-public-api-access-because-of-ai-bots/
> Amid a number of updates for moderators and developers [1]announced Wednesday comes bad news for supporters of a more open web: [2]Reddit is ending support for RSS feeds . Reddit says RSS has now become a "common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse," which is why it's made the decision to wind down RSS feeds on its platform. "We know RSS has been a beloved part of the open web for a long time, and we're grateful to everyone who used it to stay connected to Reddit," the company noted in its announcement, where it also shared a March 2027 shutdown date for its public API. Reddit said RSS support will cease on November 13.
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> [...] The RSS change was one of several updates issued on Wednesday by the company. Another big change will be the end of its public API. Public API access will also end by March 2027, which will impact any tools that used it for programmatic access to Reddit conversations, including social listening products, those used by researchers, and AI products, such as AI assistants. Today, those assistants can use Reddit to answer questions, but after closing public API access, they will need to forgo commercial deals with Reddit for its data.
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> In addition, Reddit provided an update on its Rules Hub progress and auto-mod changes, and said it was "adding safeguards" to its classic, text-heavy version of its site known as Old Reddit. The latter will include limiting access to logged-in moderators and recent users -- changes Reddit also said were required because of "abusive scraping and automated traffic." Reddit said in the next few months it will limit access for logged-in users to those who have used Old Reddit in the last 90 days. The company also reminded developers building approved third-party apps and bots to [3]register them with the company before January 12, 2027, to avoid disruption. After that date, Reddit will remove API access for any developer that hasn't registered.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/1wubgvt/continuing_our_infrastructure_updates_whats/
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/reddit-is-killing-rss-feeds-ending-public-api-access-because-of-ai-bots/
[3] https://developers.reddit.com/app-registration
Sounds right anyway. (Score:4, Informative)
> Today, those assistants can use Reddit to answer questions, but after closing public API access, they will need to forgo commercial deals with Reddit for its data.
I think they meant forge commercial deals, OTOH I do see a lot of forgoing happening. I forgo Reddit regularly.
Oh well ... (Score:3)
... there's still 4Chan.
Re: (Score:3)
and usenet
People still use reddit? (Score:4, Funny)
I thought we all went back to forums.
Re: (Score:3)
It does have valuable information, but after the changes it will all be behind a wall. Just like so many other sites.
Re: (Score:2)
Nope. People all went into invite-only discord "servers", abusing a chat system as forum.
Re: (Score:2)
one of the largest tragedies of knowledge sharing imo. at least in the past, on web forums, we could rely on archive.org to preserve them. now everything is in the "darknet" of facebook groups and discord servers.
They're the least worst (Score:4)
> They are reducing the potential exposure points to the site and erecting barriers to entry.
> Over time they will probably lose more users than they gain.
They're massively popular and the best forum site I've seen for every interest of mine. There has NEVER been anything like it thusfar. I've never seen a site control bots as well as they do. Reddit has literally changed my life because it allowed me to engage in my various hobbies much moreso than I have been able to before with a diverse group of people of varying technical prowess. It's the king example of the network effect.
I am VERY happy with them because I have a long memory and remembered what it was like before them: having a login for each forum and the chaos of poorly-managed message boards...plus limited participation for non-technical interests.
The API had a lot more downsides for me and most users than benefit. Shitty websites were scraping Reddit and saving your old posts, including deleted one and monetizing them. Then every AI scammer was scraping it to build their models and contributing nothing in return. I am honestly happier with Reddit when it's used on their terms. I know abusers were a small fraction of the API users, but they really were ruining a good thing for lots of reasons.
Stop the abuse (Score:2)
Open source has just been abused over the past. Wether it be companies like Amazon, who just take open source projects like the ELK stack and commercialize them. Or AI companies who have used it all for training. Or like WPengine who seems to think they own Matt Mullenweg
I think its time to reign in how Open Source is used by others for profit. Reddit seems to have come to that same conclusion.
I just use reddit less since they insist an app (Score:4)
I used to peruse reddit on my phone regularly. All of the sudden one day, I got an 'you must install the app' wall, that prevents me from being able to see anything past a few posts in any thread, and pushes me to playstore. This is just to read what is basically a website.
Whenever companies for you to install apps to basically read their website, it is because they want to have the spy-capabilities of their app installed on your phone (versus simple web browsing through a standard brwoser that doesn't allow them to slurp as much private data about you and where you go off your phone).
So now I just use reddit a lot less now, and only read reddit when I happen to have spare time on my desktop PC which is only once every few weeks now rather than every day.
Sayonara.. they are headed to 'digg' city with stupid antics like this..
Reddit is shit. Where is the open alternative ?! (Score:3)
Reddit is shit and Twitter/X doesn't work for threaded chat.
So where is the open APIs, open source, open forum alternative site ?
Surely there is interest ?
Why doesn't someone set one up ?
Is it a problem of critical mass ? Or what ?
Re: (Score:2)
[1]https://alternativeto.net/list... [alternativeto.net]
Dozens of alternatives.
[1] https://alternativeto.net/lists/39111/fediverse-/
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Maybe that is the problem.
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Anyone can set up a forum with discourse [0] or something similar, you just need to find someone to pay for it...
[0] [1]https://www.discourse.org/ [discourse.org]
[1] https://www.discourse.org/
Re: (Score:2)
Running a simple, efficient site shouldn't be too expensive and could be more-than-funded by advertising.
More important than that is a critical mass of posters to make it worth visiting and posting on.
Good news everyone. (Score:2)
I joined lemmy and I see way too many rss reddit posts.
Fuck Steve Huffman (Score:2)
That's fine. I'll just create a handful of agents that ignore all of that and scrapes Reddit the old fashioned way and then give the data away for free.
There's no $$ in RSS (Score:1)
Reddit is all about making deals to sell its user's data to anyone willing to buy it. They sell their data to Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon... to name a few. They can't make a deal with RSS, therefore it must go.
Finally (Score:5, Funny)
About time. The open web has had its day. It's far too dangerous for people to openly express themselves and share ideas.
Re: Finally (Score:5, Informative)
The problem is ai vibe coded apps. I run a small piece of software with an open API that is about 20 years old. In the last 3 years, my appâ(TM)s user base has grown tenfold. API usage has grown by a factor of about 100,000, even with custom rate-limiters in place. Itâ(TM)s absolutely absurd and frankly, untenable. AI is single-handedly killing any remote possibility of an open web. I donâ(TM)t use AI in my software, but merely because of the existence of AI, the resources my app consumes has expanded by many thousands of times. Itâ(TM)s a repugnant cancer.
Re: Finally (Score:3)
(Typo: the software is about ten years old.)
Re: Finally (Score:4)
In fact just yesterday I was complaining about this very thing to a guy who happened to be a vibe coder. He suggested I implement a Captcha.
On my API requests.
This is the kind of âoedevelopersâ who are consuming 90% of the worlds computing resources.
Re: (Score:2)
> This is the kind of âoedevelopersâ who are consuming 90% of the worlds computing resources.
Can they parse a POST form that understands encoding though?
Re: Finally (Score:2)
That's dumb but it IS possible to at least use HTTP auth with RSS, though some readers don't support it.
RSS feeds are dangerous (Score:2)
How can I track and capture your clicks if a third-party non-browser app is sucking up RSS feeds? The Internet does not exist to be a convenience for individuals, it is sole purpose is to serve the pipeline to consumerism. Data is collected, sold as market research, and people are bombarded with ads. Precisely what the Founding Fathers and Adam Smith intended!
P.S. disagree if you're a communist
Re: (Score:2)
AI has slashdotted the open web. You can express yourself just fine but chances are good no one will see it under all of the automated slop noise.
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Little sub-Reddit dictators don't contribute anything useful to the open internet with their echo chamber that stinks like an open sewer.
Just take a look at their 'rules'. 'Say anything to offend or annoy other members on this subreddit and you will receive a permanent ban.'