Thousands of sections, or subreddits, on the popular online message board Reddit have gone private for 48 hours in protest against new fees imposed by the site on third-party developers. The charges for accessing Reddit data could make it too expensive for third-party apps, such as Apollo, Reddit is Fun, and ReddPlanet, to continue operating. These apps have already announced their shutdown in response to the fees. Independent developers bring added value to Reddit by creating apps, tools, and bots that improve user experience and offer unique features not found on the official website or app. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman justified the move, stating that the platform needs to be a self-sustaining business and can no longer subsidize commercial entities requiring large-scale data use. The changes are part of Reddit's larger efforts to make the platform profitable and potentially go public on the stock market.