Ellen Pao has resigned as the CEO of Reddit following the flurry of protests by the site's users against her.
The former executive filed her resignation only days after releasing a public apology and promising changes to the site, The Verge reported.
The call for Pao to step down from her position began a couple of weeks ago after she decided to ban several popular subreddits. This caused many users to question her and the site's policies since according to them, the removal of certain boards was a form of censorship.
Arguing that the incident threatens their freedom of speech, protests were launched by the users. Some even sent her death threats.
Then, earlier this month, Reddit employee Victoria Taylor, head of the site's Ask Me Anything (AMA) series, was fired. This angered moderators and users due to the lack of communication from Reddit executives regarding Taylor's removal. In addition, her sudden departure from the site left many active AMAs unattended.
Due to the incidents, a group of Reddit users conducted protests and even a petition against Pao's involvement in the site. The petition, which directly called for Pao's resignation, was launched through Change.org and was able to collect around 200,000 signatures.
In response, Pao issued an apology letter on July 6 and admitted that Reddit made a couple of mistakes regarding its operations. She also noted that certain changes will be made and promised that a better communication avenue between users, moderators and Reddit officials will be implemented.
A few days later, Reddit board member Sam Altman officially announced on July 10 that Pao has resigned. She will be replaced by Steve Huffman, the founder former CEO of the company.
In the announcement, Altman said he was disappointed with how some Reddit users treated Pao during the days leading to her resignation.
"It was sickening to see some of the things redditors wrote about Ellen," he stated. "The reduction in compassion that happens when we're all behind computer screens is not good for the world. People are still people even if there is Internet between you."
"Disagreements are fine," he added. "Death threats are not, are not covered under free speech, and will continue to get offending users banned."
