As a writer on Medium I didn’t know it requires sign in for free content. I plan to move my content to a personally hosted blog but haven’t got to it yet. I also get a lot of views (10k+ mon) with no real effort on my part.
I don't think it requires sign-in for content that's not behind the paywall. I think it occasionally prompts the user to sign up or sign in, but you can click outside the box to move past it. It's hostile that they don't exclude an explicit "dismiss" button, though.
They have gotten more aggressive (and will continue to do so). I have been recently told I've run out of free articles, and if I switch to private browsing mode, it will tell me I've only got one left.
I don't think clicking outside of the box works anymore. You really have to reopen the page in incognito mode in order to read it, if you don't want to register & sign in.
That appears to be untrue, given I read the post today by clicking on the link and never got so much as asked to sign it