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Regulation Ama Ellen Pao

New Reddit CEO promises ‘dark side’ page purge as the site is not 'a bastion of free speech’

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

July 15, 2015 | 2 min read

Interim Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman has vowed to crack down on the site’s less savoury communities.

Replacing the largely under scrutiny Ellen Pao in the role, Huffman praised the sites diverse communities but expressed that the company’s tolerance of discriminatory and unsavoury threads was coming to an end.

He said in a Reddit post: “The overwhelming majority of content on Reddit comes from wonderful, creative, funny, smart, and silly communities. That is what makes Reddit great.

“There is also a dark side, communities whose purpose is reprehensible, and we don’t have any obligation to support them. And we also believe that some communities currently on the platform should not be here at all.”

He concluded: “Neither Alexis nor I created Reddit to be a bastion of free speech, but rather as a place where open and honest discussion can happen.”

The site’s future hangs in the balance as executives wrestle control of the platform back from community moderators to impose previously non-existent regulations.

Regulation Ama Ellen Pao

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