US-based social news website, Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian recently announced that he will step down from the company’s board. He further expressed his desire that the company replace him with a candidate from the black community showing support for the ongoing protests in the US over racial inequality. Ohanian is married to seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.
Announcing his decision to quit via an Instagram video and a series of tweets, Ohanian said,“I co-founded @reddit 15 years ago to help people find community and a sense of belonging. It is long overdue to do the right thing. I’m doing this for me, for my family, and for my country.”
Ohanian also said that he will be using future gains from his stock to “serve the black community”. “ I’m saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: ‘What did you do?’,” he said.
Just a week before Ohanian’s resignation, former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao had called out the current CEO, Steve Huffman, for not shutting down a subreddit promoting US President Donald Trump through the platform. Pao was quoting a letter sent by Huffman to employees, saying the platform doesn’t tolerate hate, violence and racism.
“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,” Pao wrote on Twitter.
The platform’s stance of not banning Trump’s posts have also been called out by various Reddit users and groups. The platform itself is known to be a free speech advocate and has often been used by various protestors and groups to amplify their message through social channels.
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