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The Reddit Files
Confirmed

Ellen Pao-Era Harassment Bans and the 2015 User Revolt

On June 10, 2015, under interim CEO Ellen Pao, Reddit banned five subreddits, including r/fatpeoplehate, for harassing individuals. The bans, followed by the firing of a popular staffer, led to a moderator blackout, a 100,000-plus signature petition, and Pao's resignation on July 10, 2015.

Jun 10, 2015
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Whose side it served: Neither party

The bans targeted harassment communities rather than partisan ones and predate Reddit's 2016-era political fights.

What the record shows

Reddit banned r/fatpeoplehate (over 150,000 subscribers), r/hamplanethatred and three smaller subreddits, saying they broke its rules 'based on their harassment of individuals.' A petition accusing Pao of creating 'a new age of censorship' passed 100,000 signatures. In early July, moderators set more than 100 popular forums to private after the unexplained dismissal of Victoria Taylor, who ran r/IAmA. Pao resigned on July 10, and co-founder Steve Huffman returned as CEO. In her farewell post Pao wrote that 'the ugly made me doubt humanity.'

In their words

“based on their harassment of individuals”— Reddit announcement, as reported by SiliconANGLE · source
“the ugly made me doubt humanity”— Ellen Pao, outgoing interim CEO · source
The other side

Reddit framed the bans as targeting harassment of specific people rather than viewpoints, and Pao faced extensive personal abuse during the revolt. Critics saw the bans as the start of rules they viewed as vague and expandable.

Sources

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