Shrek

I think they view it as ripping off the bandaid now before their IPO. They probably figured they would lose some single digit % of users that would recover over time, and now they will have full control over the experience with no 3rd party apps, which they will want in order to squeeze more money over time.

Maybe they should focus on what their user base wants instead trying to be TikTok or whatever is hot this week.

“Being obnoxious, mocking users, being abravise, or overall being a jerk is not illegal. You can always do it there, specially in subreddits with large numbers of subscribers.”

Maybe don’t be a jerk though, even though it isn’t illegal. That makes the world a worse place on the whole, and you would still be giving reddit more “monthly active users”