Reddit CEO under fire as users protest sacking of executive

New York

MORE than 130,000 people have signed a petition demanding the removal of Ellen Pao, Reddit Inc's interim chief executive officer, after she dismissed an executive and was accused of censoring online message boards. Ms Pao fired Victoria Taylor, the director of talent for the San Francisco-based company that operates an online message forum. Most of Reddit's message boards experienced blackouts on July 3 as moderators protested the July 2 dismissal.

Even as Ms Pao apologised for the handling of Ms Taylor's removal, the petition posted on Change.org had crossed the 100,000 signature barrier by Saturday and added more than 30,000 by midday on Sunday.