Reddit communities will require permission while going private or switching to NSFW

Last year, while opposing Reddit’s API changes, a large number of subreddits turned from public to private or turned NSFW (Not Safe for Work) to impact ads on the platform. To prevent this kind of change, Reddit is bringing new rules where moderators will have to submit a request when updating community-type public or private or maturity ratings of SFW (Safe for Work) or NSFW.

The social networking site said that these changes will apply from today and will mostly impact large communities. The company said that the request to switch type will be instantly approved if the community is under 30 days old or has fewer than 5,000 members.

However, for other communities, an admin will respond to the request within 24 hours. Reddit said it has enough human support to handle these requests around the clock and all year.

The company said that moderators of subreddits can restrict contributions of posts and/or comments for up to seven days using temporary events without any approval process an event to prevent abuse. But a permanent change of this nature will require moderators to submit a request.

Reddit specified on r/modnews that the idea behind this update is to prevent disruption on the platform or violation of platform rules. It emphasized that the motive behind this update is not to stop users from protesting.

The social media platform said that it shared this update in advance with Mod Council with more than 100 moderators of different subreddits to get feedback and advice from them.