

While other parts of the site found different creative ways to protest Reddit's API changes, the John Oliver movement gained the most traction as of June 19. The idea originated on r/pics, the first subreddit to protest the controversial changes by allowing only image submissions of the Last Week Tonight host. Consequently, the subreddit's front page became filled with images of John Oliver, including photographs and Minecraft-inspired fan art of the comedian. Consequently, r/Minecraft was compelled to reopen, leading the moderators to adopt a more lenient approach towards posting submissions. A Reddit admin communicated this stance to the r/Minecraft mod team, as shown in a screenshot shared by user mynameisperl. They argued that permanently shutting down a public forum due to the demands of a small portion of its user base, especially when the reasons are unrelated to the subreddit's topic, does not make sense.

Reddit officials disagreed with the r/Minecraft mod team's decision to close the subreddit based on the poll results, citing the low participation of less than 20,000 users. In both polls, an overwhelming majority voted in favor of an indefinite blackout for the Minecraft subreddit.

One such subreddit, r/Minecraft, conducted two polls following Reddit officials' suggestion that the first vote had been influenced by non-subscribing activists. Before making this decision, many of them sought the input of their users through polls. The subreddit has been flooded with images as a form of protest against Reddit's forthcoming API changes, which prompted many subreddits to go private in June.ĭespite an initial two-day blackout that failed to sway Reddit's API policy plans, numerous popular subreddits have chosen to remain private indefinitely. Comedian John Oliver has made a splash on the popular Minecraft subreddit, garnering support from its 7.4 million subscribers.
