How Reddit’s new CEO wants to end the forum’s ‘dark side’

Reddit’s returning CEO Steve Huffman took to the site Thursday to propose a new set of content guidelines that is meant to curb harassment, and in turn help the popular but at times unruly site monetize its massive audience. Huffman said Reddit long favored a hands-off approach toward content policing to foster a spirit of openness. However, that spirit also led to an increased amount of mobbing and harassment, some of which had been directed against Ellen Pao, Reddit’s interim CEO, who resigned last week. Reddit leaders are considering outright banning illegal activity like the distribution of copyrighted material, and will make adult content, as well as “content that violates a common sense of decency,” available only to registered users who opt in to consuming it, and wouldn’t be featured in search results.

As Reddit has grown, we’ve seen additional examples of how unfettered free speech can make Reddit a less enjoyable place to visit, and can even cause people harm outside of Reddit.

CEO Steve Huffman

Whether Huffman’s rules are embraced and enforced by the community will be a crucial step for Reddit as the site tries to make it through an identity crisis. The new set of restrictions come as Pao left the company after reaching a mutual decision with the board. Pao was subjected to hateful messages on the site and many called for her ouster. The Reddit rebellion began after the tight-knit online community learned Victoria Taylor, a popular Reddit employee who helped facilitate the forum’s “Ask Me Anything” interviews with politicians, celebrities and other news makers had been abruptly fired without an explanation given to the Reddit community.

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