Reddit CEO Ellen Pao Accused of Censorship in Petition Calling for Her Firing

The interim executive under scrutiny for removal of popular site administrator Victoria Taylor

Getty Images

Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao is under fire by the site’s users who are calling for the executives firing over perceived censorship.

An online petition calling for Pao’s removal has reached over 159,000 signatures at the time of this publishing. The description for the petition states that after Pao became head of the company, “Reddit entered into a new age of censorship.”

Pao faced backlash from Reddit users in June after shutting down five subreddits that were deemed abusive under new community rules set by the company. Users vented their anger almost immediately, comparing Pao to a Nazi and calling the move dictatorial.

Pao also came under fire from Reddit moderators after the removal of popular site administrator Victoria Taylor. Taylor was responsible for coordinating the site’s popular Ask Me Anything (AMA) series, in which celebrities and pop culture figures answer questions submitted by reddit users.

“They should have been told earlier about the transition and we should have provided more detail on the transition plan,” Pao said during an interview with NPR.

Nevertheless, moderators of several popular subreddits staged a blackout protest, locking users out. Likewise, the petition description also states: “The communication between the Reddit administration team to its subreddit moderators is very lacking and rather unsettling after years of empty promises to the moderators to improve and provide tools to help run subreddits, and ultimately Reddit as a whole, smoothly.”

A representative for reddit said simply, “The company fully supports Ellen.”

Prior to joining reddit, Pao famously sued her former employer Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm, for gender discrimination in 2012 after she was passed over for a promotion. Pao ultimately lost the case, though some have argued she helped shed light on the gender gap in the tech and venture capital industries.

Comments