I wonder why there isn't an army of people in this thread telling us how it costs money to host a social networking platform and we shouldn't expect something for nothing a website has a right to charge users for access and if you don't like it then don't use it?
I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with charging for API access but the amount they're charging is ridiculous. Most reddit/lemmy apps pay for the imgur api, for example. Only difference is that imgur wants significantly less money than reddit so it's sustainable for app developers.
I do think there's a bit of merit to that, but I think the way it was approached and leveled at the community was really what created the true problem.
There wasn't much tact or frank honesty about the situation, Reddit and Huffman bred a sort of hostile environment by setting the tone. I could sympathize with the logical reason, but not with the execution and true personality that it belied.