Reddit goes down worldwide after 'Blackout' begins on website

Reddit went down for users across the globe just as some of its most popular communities chose to shut down in protest against pricing changes.

Users attempting to log on to the site today (12 June) have been met with blank pages, with messages reading, "Something went wrong. Just don't panic", or advising people to try and refresh the page.

Many shared screenshots of the issues online, with many joking that they were lost without the app.

Twitter/@EnginesOfChange

The global outage comes as a number of the main subreddits for gaming, music, celebrities and communities have shut down for at least 48 hours after Reddit announced it would start charging developers using its site.

The charges comes for developers looking to access Reddit's API (application programming interface), which allows them to access information on the platform and run alternate smartphone apps for people who don't like using the official Reddit app.

Many Reddit users access the site's content through popular apps include Apollo, Narwhal, Relay, and Infinity, so the subreddits chose to shut down in support of the developers.

R/gaming explained its members were 'overwhelmingly in support of the blackout', noting the APIO charges would make apps 'ludicrously more expensive for developers to run'.

Topics: Reddit

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.