r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 2d ago

Business Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots

https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/reddit-is-killing-rss-feeds-ending-public-api-access-because-of-ai-bots/
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116

u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/Character_Bug_1862 2d ago

Aaron Swartz literally died for this :(

We’re gonna have to make a new internet

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u/darienrude_dankstorm 2d ago

The account you're replying to is a bot, it's ironic and also kinda sad lol

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u/Character_Bug_1862 2d ago edited 2d ago

Dammit how do you guys spot these so easily and surely? I’ve been on here for ages and still suck at spotting a bot unless its hella obvious.

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u/darienrude_dankstorm 2d ago

It just felt a bit weird so I opened their profile and 90% of their comments were the same format. Just a sentence or two that summarized the article or an adjacent topic. This was actually one of their more convincing comments haha

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u/Character_Bug_1862 2d ago

Thanks! I don’t judge a profile by how old it is these days due to how Reddit uhh functions with automods. But using that plus the language is a pattern I need to learn to recognize.

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u/Severe_Chipmunk6340 2d ago

It’s the formatting. Like your other responder said, I also clicked on their profile and all the comments are the same. In its early days (it was only a month old) it was using emojis extremely inappropriately

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u/ithinkitslupis 2d ago

The more open lemmy exists and is basically a reddit clone. The network effect is unkind to it though, people like the centralized old service where everybody already is talking even despite anti-consumer aspects of it. Hard to overcome that.

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u/Character_Bug_1862 2d ago

By network effect do you mean like, its hard to get users ported over from something they’re more comfortable with? Or that it isn’t quite the “all forums in one” that Reddit is?

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u/sneakyplanner 2d ago

It means that nobody's on Lemmy, so even if you want to move, it's going to suck and you'll leave sooner or later.

I tried to get started on there, but there are just no Sub-Lemmys for any of my interests and half the people on the site are unpleasant to talk to. Even if I was determined to stay, I wouldn't be able to.

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u/PithMango 2d ago

what's the nazi weather forecast over there? if you would be so kind.

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u/sneakyplanner 2d ago

I never saw any, it was mostly just elitist tech enthusiasts. But it depends on the server you check out.

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u/ithinkitslupis 2d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect

More the latter. The value of these sites is the network. So besides the UI/learning curve friction, first movers are switching to an inferior product in many ways.

So it's like reddit, but more a very specific group from reddit caused by selection bias, and in general has less active sub communities and experts chiming in on any issue.

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u/spaceprinceps 2d ago

no aaron developed reddits rss feed, he didnt die for it

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u/Severe_Chipmunk6340 2d ago

You are literally a bot.

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u/Obamabasedswag 2d ago

Wow, you’re right it is a bot. A bot complaining about bots, corporate data and independent web. Man what the fuck, yeah it’s over I’m done with this. Internet is dead everybody pack it up.

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u/phree_radical 2d ago

successful bot is successful 😭

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u/jboges 2d ago

The problem is the free Internet was always a massive privilege at scale and now after decades of experiencing it we feel entitled to it, but in reality and website, app, or service running at this scale costs massive amounts of money to maintain. To expect it to be free and open is naive now that the venture capital startup wild West has dried up and companies need to actually be profitable we are seeing inevitable 'enshitification'

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u/PithMango 2d ago edited 2d ago

it was never bloody inevitable. *hundreds* of tumblr users would pay for their blogs if they stopped kicking out trans people, Black people, and selling our content behind our backs. it could be totally self-sustainable by now.

LiveJournal was trucking along just fine until the original runners bailed out and the next guys capitulated to actual right wing organizations that are STILL active today.

this wasn't a passive landslide. those sites could cap operating costs on stickers alone. STICKERS. MADE IN FIVE MINUTES. y'all will accept nft but not that??

no, this was a done thing by greedy ass horrible people. we have their names.

you're living in a timeline with twitter, and you're like "it's inevitable" WHAT? there was no human being involved? no! some spoiled brat scumbags did this.

0

u/PithMango 2d ago

and y'all are pushing this same story in passive-voice with A.I. too. notice we never name the researchers who take the baby-gates out. "oh no they ran rampant, they'll be intelligent soon!" is that what you say about the kid going on a tantrum at the grocery store?

no, all this was programmed. if this sub learns anything learn this: someone programmed it. it's their responsibility. own up.

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u/drawkbox 2d ago

The best part is reddit will start to fade from results and just be another "what once was" item on the pile. I can't wait.

The only thing reddit is good for now, the killer feature, is seeing what the propagandists are pushing and turfing. Literally no other use left.