THAT would be worse, since then instead of any blackout at all it’s business as usual (while being slowly crippled from bad moderation and decaying user behaviours).

I view that as the next step in this protest: proving to Reddit that the previous relationship Reddit had with its organically grown volunteer moderation system is (was) quintessential to what made Reddit good. If instead Reddit thrives in a context where those moderators are simply replaced with Reddit stooges, then I guess we'd be proven wrong, about whether this protest mattered at all. Either way, the outcome will act as a transparent display of what Reddit's true value is, which I think is a useful thing for everyone to know.

This is essentially my problem with this plan, lol. It's content people want to interact with, meaning it's counterproductive to the blackout.

I don't think this is a good idea. The point of the blackout is to hit Reddit where it hurts, by driving traffic down. This prank (partially) reverses the work of the blackout, by getting people back to the pics subreddit to post and see (John Oliver) pics. It turns the blackout into a joke. And I think is a step towards the community just moving on from the blackout without it actually having the long term effects that were intended.

I'm all for malicious compliance, but I think this is the wrong flavor of it.