Make no mistake, the owning class is actively working against your interests

The image provider of Reddit doesn't hide images behind an API or any authorization layer. It's basically free especially if the Lemmy instance has a flat fee for bandwidth usage

That’s a surprise, considering Reddit’s whole API meltdown. I appreciate the answer.
- APIs can be used to fetch specific data. A link to an image is literally just a link to an image, the server isn't having to gather the data to send like an API would.
  
  The thumbnail, which I didn’t bother to check until a few minutes ago, offered the impression that Lemmy fetches data differently. It’s not a thumbnail, it’s the full size image. Every comment here has fleshed out my understanding a bit more. Thank you.

How would that work?

Iunno, I’m not a web dev. Reddit created its video and image hosting services to avoid fees associated with linking content from elsewhere. When you click a link, the site you came from is listed as the referrer. Past that, your question is essentially mine.
- thats not how the internet works.
  
  If users aren’t loading the linked content then maybe, but that’s just pedantry.
  
  Its not pedantry, its just not how things work. When you load the link its the same as if you went to reddit manually and browsed to the image. The instance having a link to reddit doesn't mean reddit can charge the instance money now. That makes no sense.

You are wrong.

Any chance you can expand on that slightly? I’m fine being wrong, but this doesn’t offer much information.
- Just linking to rxxxit doesn't require the API, so no API costs.
  
  There is no flood warning because the individual lemmy user viewing the linked content uses their own IP address.
  
  i.reddit is a web server just like any other and if you have a link to a file there, and it is not otherwise secured, you can embed a link or reference to it in any HTML.
  
  You don't realize this likely because you browse using a mobile app and imagine that reddit is something other than just a website that can be treated and linked to like any other website.
  
  I browse exclusively from a browser, however, I am nearly entirely unfamiliar with how the web works. I’ve pieced together that Reddit was using Imgur’s API and was charged heavily for its use. I’m guessing based on another comment that Imgur required referred requests to go through their API? And Reddit has no such protections for some reason? That about right?
- There's not much to expand on. There's no mechanism here for linking to someone else's content to cost money, so it doesn't.
  
  I realize now that there’s somehow a disconnect in thought between linking content on a content aggregator and expecting users to load it. It’s my mistake, I lack the vocabulary to communicate that properly.
  
  I'm pretty sure it's less that, rather you are memeing your username for the lulz.
  
  No, I’m just asking a question and receiving (mostly) answers from people without any interest in answering it. I did get a couple of proper answers, which was nice. An audience of 20 isn’t enticing enough to troll.
  
  I know I am the one that answered it.
  
  And you are trolling and now you're blocked.
  
  Rude, but I still sincerely appreciate your answer, my overly cautious friend.
- There's no mechanism for this. Sure, they could track the referer (if it's even set - Lemmy apps probably wouldn't bother, browsers can decide not to as well)
  
  But then what? They send a bill to the Lemmy site? Which would be your instance, not the one where it was posted... Which you could then laugh off and post for content
  
  What you're describing doesn't exist, otherwise I could start my own host service and spam posts to Reddit and charge them whatever I want. I could even go to my own content
  
  Now, let's say they did want to do something like this. They could send a "not allowed" picture instead of what you asked for if you don't see a valid site. They could then force developers to get a key and proxy the image over from Reddit (if the key leaked, they'd be on the hook, so you'd almost have to do it server-side)
  
  But that's a bunch of effort on both sides, and people would just reupload somewhere else. It might even lead more people off Reddit
  
  I'm thinking you came to this idea from Reddit saying they started hosting themselves to save money. Here's some reasons why that situation is different
  
  First, imgur does have a system to restrict outside links. Certain content requires either to see it on their site or to meet criteria, like a referral header.
  
  Second, lemmy is basically leaching off Reddit's hosting, but does actually have our own image hosting. Imgur was created to serve Reddit - if imgur decided to delete popular Reddit posts, the site would have looked dead. They were already paying imgur for the service
  
  Third, who says Reddit was telling the truth? They've been chasing the IPO for a long time now, so of course they're going to sell every new feature as profitable. In reality, I'm guessing it was a mix of needing something to spend money on to increase their valuation and wanting more control over their content since imgur had grown beyond just serving Reddit
  
  I imagined most image hosting websites would have something of the sort to prevent abuse. I really appreciate your explanation, it filled in several holes left in my admittedly poor understanding. Thank you.

how would that work