Reddit moderators shut down parts of site after employee’s firing

Popular message board site Reddit made headlines Friday when moderators of the site shut down more than 250 subreddits.

According to Wired, the moderators shut down the subreddits to protest the firing of Victoria Taylor, the website’s director of talent.

Taylor was in charge of Reddit’s well-known “Ask Me Anything” features, where prominent guests answered questions from readers.

Taylor, who has been with the site since 2013, was fired Thursday, though no reason was given for her dismissal, according to the New York Times.

The firing occurred the day after Taylor hosted an “Ask Me Anything” with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, although it’s not clear whether the discussion led to her release.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohania commented on the firing and the backlash that followed in a post Friday.

“Your message was received loud and clear,” Ohania wrote. “The communication between Reddit and the moderators needs to improve dramatically. We will work closely with you all going forward to ensure events like today don’t happen again. At this point, however, the blackout has served its purpose, and now it’s time to get Reddit functioning again.”

Ellen Pao, Reddit’s interim CEO, also responded, posting that the company values moderators, who “allow each subreddit to be unique and to appeal to different communities.” Pao later deleted the post.

The reaction to Reddit’s shut down was varied:

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Reddit moderators shut down parts of site after employee’s firing."