Social media site Reddit is losing it’s CEO. Ellen Pao voluntarily stepped down as the company’s top leader thanks to pressure and controversy.?
Despite the controversy, Ellen Pao insists this was a mutual decision, and the recent controversies had nothing to do with her departure. One controversy involved stolen celebrity photos from Reddit. This led to the resignation of former CEO Yishan Wong back in November 2014, whom Pao replaced. Then there’s the dissatisfaction and tensions between Pao and Reddit users. The tension got so bad co-founder and new CEO Steve Huffman took it upon himself to warn users against threatening Ellen Pao. Some of the things written about her were so vile and violent Huffman put up the following notice in a statement, “?Disagreements are fine. Death threats are not, are not covered under free speech, and will continue to get offending users banned.? If that weren’t enough, Pao still recovers from losing her discrimination lawsuit against former employer Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers.
Needless to say, these last several months have been challenging ones for Ellen Pao. When asked what her next move was, she didn’t talk about job prospects or travel plans. All she wanted to do was get some sleep and take some time off. I can understand why. I wish Ellen Pao the absolute best: she deserves nothing less after this mess. Although I’m not sure how much of this ‘mutual decision’ was her decision. But I must speak out against this cyber hatred she’s been getting on her own company site! We’re all going to disagree on some things. The world would be a boring place if we all agreed on everything all the time. But that’s no excuse for cyber hatred, bullying, or death threats. Cowards who threaten people’s lives online (because they don’t have the guts to do it to someone’s face) should not only be banned from Reddit, but reported, arrested and prosecuted. What will Ellen Pao’s next move be?