Reddit is limiting Old Reddit access to combat AI bots and scraping, requiring users to log in and have used the platform in the last six months
How is Reddit combating AI bots and scraping?
Reddit is further limiting who can use the 'Old Reddit' experience as part of its efforts to combat scraping and automated traffic. The company recently started forcing users to log in to be able to use Old Reddit, but in the 'next few months,' the company says that you'll have to be logged in and have used Old Reddit in the six months from when the change rolls out to be able to continue browsing the platform with the classic experience.
What changes is Reddit making to Old Reddit access?
Reddit says the six-month window covers 'the vast majority of all Old Reddit users.' The announcement didn't go into detail, but it's clearly aimed at blocking not just new account creation for bots, but also any bots that might access unused or abandoned accounts.
As part of the changes, Reddit will stop supporting RSS feeds on November 13th because RSS is 'now a common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse,' and suggested replacements like Discord Relay for moderation help. The company has been waging war against unsanctioned access to its data for some time, including blocking the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to prevent AI scraping, suing Anthropic over alleged unauthorized bot access, and striking deals with Google and OpenAI to use Reddit data for training.
Reddit knows that Old Reddit is beloved by many users, and in May of 2025, CEO Steve Huffman said the company would 'keep it online as long as people are using it.' But in August, Huffman said that Reddit had gotten to a point where 'we need to make some changes' because the experience was being used by 'everyone who spams, scrapes, or does anything bad on Reddit.' Logged-in moderators, however, will still be able to use Old Reddit without a recent usage requirement.
Reddit also shared updates for the previously-announced transition moving apps and bots that use Reddit's public data API to the company's Developer Platform. Reddit will begin removing API access for users that haven't registered their apps by January 12th, and all remaining public API access 'will end in March 2027.' The changes are part of Reddit's ongoing effort to optimize its platform for better answer engine optimization, reducing the impact of automated traffic on its community.
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