Reddit is considering significant changes to its 21-year-old desktop version, Old Reddit, potentially leading to its retirement. This move is part of the company's broader strategy to combat AI scraping and abusive traffic.

Reddit has stated that changes are necessary "in order to protect our platform, business, and users from abusive scraping and spamming." While specific plans remain vague, the company intends to migrate critical bots and moderator workflows away from the legacy experience. Previously, Reddit blocked logged-out access to Old Reddit, citing it as a "significant source of abusive scraping and automated traffic."

CEO Steve Huffman indicated that options include limiting access, migrating essential functions, or rebuilding Old Reddit on a modern tech stack. Reddit is also phasing out its public API, requiring third-party apps to transition to its more controlled Developer Platform, offering a $1 million "app migration program." This follows earlier API changes that impacted third-party clients and led to protests. The company is also overhauling its moderation with an LLM-based system, Rules Hub, designed to eventually replace Auto Mod.