[germinalphrase]

“ If the former is true, the moderators aren't really "replaceable" in that way. You can fire them, but the output of your product will suffer as a result”

Sure - the cost would be higher, but is that cost actually higher than allowing insurgent moderators to retain control over very prominent subreddits and, presumably, shut them down? Doubtful. There’s no way Reddit would allow moderators to “take down” Reddit.

[aeturnum]

I mean, I think there have been plenty of examples of new moderation teams being able to kill popular subreddits. So I do think there's a good chance that the option is illusory. The subreddit will die if you piss off all of the moderators at the same time and it kind of doesn't matter if it's through a protest you won't listen to or by firing them.