Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav Soon, Reddit won’t let people use Old.Reddit.com unless they have used the site while logged in within the previous six months. In July, Reddit started requiring that users be logged in to access Old Reddit. This new requirement is an effort to reduce Reddit’s biggest source of scraping and automated traffic, the company says. Today, the social media platform announced additional upcoming restrictions on Old Reddit.
A Reddit post from an employee, known as “judy-funnie” on the platform, says that “in the next few months, we’ll further limit access for logged-in users to only those who have used Old Reddit in the last six months (which covers the vast majority of all Old Reddit users).” There is an exception for moderators, who will still be able to view Old Reddit regardless of when they last used it, as long as they are logged in. “This helps keep Old Reddit available for the people who rely on it while reducing automated abuse,” the post says. Today’s post claimed that forcing users to log in to use Old Reddit “helped reduce scraping and automated abuse.” But further restrictions on the site, which many longtime Reddit users prefer over regular Reddit for its look, layout, homepage feed, and familiarity, have people concerned that Reddit will shutter Old Reddit one day. I asked Reddit if it has plans to shut down Old Reddit, and spokesperson Rosa Kim told me via email: As [Reddit CEO Steve Huffman previously] confirmed, Reddit is continuing to work on the future of Old Reddit. This change is about limiting unauthenticated access and reducing automated abuse—not removing Old Reddit for people and moderators who rely on it.
We want to preserve Old Reddit for the real people that use it, not let it be a vector for automated abuse. Reddit’s announcement noted that the current rules permit “any logged-in account to access Old Reddit, including accounts with no prior Old Reddit use.” I asked Kim why that’s a bad thing but didn’t receive a response. In August, Kim told Ars that Reddit “will work directly with the mods, developers, and communities that depend on our systems and make sure to keep everyone updated” about any future changes to Old Reddit. In 2025, Huffman said Old Reddit would remain “online as long as people are using it.” But in August, he changed his tune, saying in a post that “the reality is we’re getting to that time where we need to make some changes.” Those changes would “probably” include limiting access, migrating “important uses,” and rebuilding Old Reddit “on a modern tech stack,” per Huffman.
With the new restrictions for accessing Old Reddit, the site may see dwindling use, making it easier for the company to one day justify closing it or limiting access even further. Reddit also limiting RSS feed support Reddit will also stop supporting RSS feeds on November 13 “because RSS is now a common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse,” judy-funnie said. RSS feeds will still be available for moderators who use it for workflows “through supported alternatives,” Reddit’s employee said. They added: For common mod alerts, we recommend Devvit apps like Discord Relay.
If your mod team relies on RSS, review your setup and migrate workflows before November 13 to ensure your needs are uninterrupted. If you use RSS for feeds outside of a community you moderate, there is no replacement. RSS has been a beloved part of the open web for a long time, and we’re grateful to everyone who used it to stay connected to Reddit. Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica parent Condé Nast, is the largest shareholder in Reddit.
Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter 53 Comments Comments Forum view Customize
