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An Internet insurrection is taking place on reddit, where moderators have shut down many of the social sharing site's most popular sections in an apparent protest over the 

.
Taylor was a key figure in reddit's extremely popular 

 (Ask Me Anything) section, which brought in celebrities of all stripes — from actors to musicians and even President Obama — to answer questions submitted from the vast community. Taylor's role was often organizer, mediator and even transcriber for many of the AMAs.
As The Verge 


As a result, the moderators of r/IAmA set the section to "private," effectively closing it to anyone but the moderators. Once word of Taylor's firing 

, moderators of other popular sections (called subreddits) that cover movies, science, gaming and a host of others, also went private, making much of reddit essentially useless to regular site visitors.
Reddit users have been keeping track of what sections are closing on a 

 of when sites have returned.
It is still unclear why Taylor was let go, and the company has not yet made an official statement on the matter. But in a 

, reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who goes by the username 

, apologized for "how we handled communicating change to the AMA team this morning." In response to the blackout, Ohanian wrote that the message was "received loud and clear" and urged moderators to bring the shut-down sections back online.
As 

 that this latest move was "merely the straw that broke the camel's back," and that unrest and a call for changes have been brewing for some time. TechCrunch adds:


followed changes to the site's harassment policy

, changes that put reddit's interim CEO, Ellen Pao, under fire from many users, with some even 

 to have her step down from the company.
Regarding Taylor's firing, Pao responded on her 

 that she "can't comment on an individual employee's situation." In a 

, Pao also addressed some changes to the way reddit moderators operate:



The 10-year-old site, one of the busiest and commonly known as "the front page of the Internet," has more than 


Some blacked-out subreddits, including r/IAmA, are beginning to come back online. The moderators of r/IAmA also 

Pao has released a statement apologizing for how the company "handled the transition."


"We should have informed the moderators earlier and provided more detail on the transition plan," the interim CEO said. "We are working to make improvements and create the best experience for our users and we aren't always perfect ... we let you down yesterday."  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Steve Mullis

Author

An Internet insurrection is taking place on Reddit, where moderators have shut down many of the social sharing site's most popular sections in an apparent protest over the dismissal of a staffer.

Parts of social-sharing site Reddit go dark in apparent user revolt

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