Reddit CEO stands firm on 3rd-party app charges amidst protests and moderator rule changes.

Thousands of subreddits went dark this week in protest of Reddit's upcoming changes to its API access, which includes charging high usage third-party apps. Reddit says that supporting these developers is too expensive and that the new policy is necessary to become a self-sustaining business. Despite the blackout, the company says it is not changing its course. Protest organizers say that Reddit's new policy threatens to end key ways of historically customizing the platform, which relies heavily on the volunteer labor of subreddit moderators.