Your Independence Day visits to r/technology will be short indeed -- Reddit's tech subreddit is offline as part of a stand against social media. Wikipedia cofounder Larry Sangler led the push to "demand that giant, manipulative corporations give us back control over our data, privacy, and user experience."
"Following on from the announcement by Larry Sangler of a Social Media Strike," the notice reads. "/r/technology is joining the #SocialMediaStrike Click the links above for more info. Normal service will resume on the 5th."
Sangler called for people to avoid posting on sites including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit on July 4 and 5, apparently in response to privacy concerns spurred on by the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed that as many as 87 million users' data was sold to a UK firm. It violated a 2011 settlement the social network made with the FTC requiring it to receive people's approval before selling any data.
In an emailed statement, Sangler said he wasn't surprised that /r/technology users were "early adopters of the strike."
"They more than anyone are keenly aware of how the Internet could have developed differently, and that we could still return to a more decentralized, less centrally-controlled Internet architecture," he wrote. "It just takes a mass movement to get behind the idea."
Reddit didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
First published at 5:44 a.m. PT.
Updated at 7:23 a.m. PT: Adds Sangler's comment.
