Reddit slammed by former CEO Ellen Pao for 'amplifying' racism and hate

[ghost]

Reddit slammed by former CEO Ellen Pao for 'amplifying' racism and hate

 

Current CEO Steve Huffman said in a public statement that Reddit doesn't tolerate hate. But Pao isn't having it.

 

 

Ellen Pao

Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images

 

 

Former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao harshly criticized the tech company on Tuesday after it published an open letter condemning racism, with Pao saying the social network knowingly makes money off hate. "You don't get to say BLM when reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long," Pao tweeted, referring to the Black Lives Matter movement.

 

Current Reddit CEO Steve Huffman had sent the open letter to his staff on Monday and also published it on Twitter. "We do not tolerate hate, racism, and violence, and while we have work to do to fight these on our platform, our values are clear," he wrote.

Pao, who served as the company's interim CEO from late 2014 to mid 2015, retweeted a link to the letter along with her response, saying she felt a responsibility to take Reddit to task.

 

I am obligated to call you out: You should have shut down the_donald instead of amplifying it and its hate, racism, and violence. So much of what is happening now lies at your feet. You don't get to say BLM when reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long https://t.co/VN5XCiYp5g

— Ellen K. Pao (@ekp) June 2, 2020

Reddit didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

A number of tech companies are contributing to an outpouring of public support for the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer last week. But with that outpouring is coming a backlash from critics who say some of these companies haven't played an active role in quashing racism in the past, or have even allowed it to flourish.

 

Reddit has long been criticized for not ridding its platform of racist forums, especially the subreddit called "the_donald," which Pao referred to in her tweet. The subreddit, formed in 2015 as Donald Trump announced his presidential election campaign, has a lengthy history of playing host to conspiracy theories, as well as to a wide array of racist and misogynistic content.

 

In spite of persistent calls to ban the_donald, the subreddit has survived, though the_donald was placed under quarantine in June 2019. The quarantine prevents the subreddit from appearing in search results and requires users with a verified email address to opt in to view content.

 

During her time at Reddit, Pao banned five subreddits for fostering off-site harassment. She was replaced by Huffman after she resigned from the company in July 2015, following complaints from critics who accused her of censorship. Huffman also has banned several abusive subreddits in his time at the company's helm, but like other tech CEOs, he's struggled to strike a balance between moderating harmful content on the platform and maintaining it as a forum for free speech.

 

CNET

[frankl1n]

Its not a crime to hate or say how you feel, and no amount of "anything" will change that. 

For me it all goes back to "sticks and stones" ya know!

Too many sensitive sheeples out there just waiting for direction, even when misguided.

So Pao wants to be a sheep herder, try not to step in the shit is my advice.

 

[steven36]

That site is just a  last resort for  trolls  i can't stand to sign in there   so i hardly ever do  even the current Ceo is a self professed troll , they all hide behind  the guise  of free speech to be able  to treat each other like.  That why  Facebook have Billions of users and they don't that site is toxic. .. If having to deal with them fools is freedom of speech i dont want it  that site   needs  better moderation so more people will actuality sign in  .  .Only people who sign in there  is because they out of place on other forums . Most all  of us belong too it  i been reading  on that site for years and the site is just a shit show. Most of the comments in the subs i visit are so boring i have to leave to keep from falling asleep . It like r/Piracy    they have so many rules against posting links even the auto mod a bot will  get after you in PM . So  what good is a Piracy sub were you cant post the booty?  they may say one useful  comment out  of a 1000 something i didnt already know or cared about even. so its just spam because Piracy is not allowed.   All they do is bore me to death talking about it . It's just  a waste of time when you can be on some real pirate site downloading the booty are even other subs on the same site has the booty  Joining private subs and forums  on the other sites that got ban from there is were it's at now  .that site is almost dead . .   .