Reddit is trying to sow division in mod teams because the protest is working

The "malicious" compliance of /r/pics seems like the way to go. The subreddit is nominally available, the users are involved and showing support of the protest, a clear symbol has been chosen that shows the issue is not going to go away, and the subreddit is not operating with business as usual.

An alternative approach for something like /r/firefox might be choosing a style sheet that was uncomfortable to read, maybe black text on black background, bright green text on pink background, or something like that. This would have the bonus effect of nudging users into using third party apps for accessibility's sake. They could even sticky a link to a third party app at the top of the subreddit, one that doesn't bow down to the API nonsense but rather functions through adversarial interoperability.

I know it could easily be justified that it was “dead” years ago and the quality has only degraded over the years… but this really anchors things to the summer of 2023 being when things objectively changed in a big way.

To be sure, Reddit itself will go on but only as a husk of its former self.

The value is in the users, the people who create content. And to that end the freest, fairest, and most democratic choice is the individual's private decision to participate. Closing subs to protest takes that choice out of the hands of the user. Make organic posts to the site to raise awareness of any particular issue or cause you like, and let those get viewed and voted as they will. But using moderator powers to make these statements is an abuse of power and abuse of the user base, and it's exactly what I would expect from the archetype reddit moderator. I wouldn't be too upset to see a few get their comeuppance for it.

I say this as someone who dislikes the reddit organization, the CEO, their lies and underhandedness, has been proudly perma banned from there, and would get some petty satisfaction from reading about them crashing and burning. But if people like it and want to use it and continue to participate in their communities they are a part of there, they should be permitted to.