Reddit—Under CEO Ellen Pao, Reddit enacted its first anti-harassment policy and banned revenge porn
In May-June 2015, under interim CEO Ellen Pao, Reddit enacted its first official anti-harassment policy and became the first major social media platform to ban revenge porn and unauthorized nude photos. Reddit also shut down 5 subreddits that promoted harassment based on race, weight, and sexual orientation. Pao subsequently faced a massive harassment campaign and a petition with over 200,000 signatures calling for her removal, and resigned on July 10, 2015.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content Moderation | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Digital Safety for Vulnerable Users | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Gender Equity | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.572 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Reddit enacted first anti-harassment policy and banned revenge porn under CEO Ellen Pao
In May 2015, Reddit enacted its first official anti-harassment policy under interim CEO Ellen Pao. In June 2015, Reddit banned 5 subreddits promoting harassment. Pao was also the first head of a major social media platform to ban revenge porn and unauthorized nude photos. Pao resigned in July 2015 after facing a massive harassment campaign including a petition with over 200,000 signatures.