Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman steps up as new CEO

Reddit's co-founder Steve Huffman is now the company's new CEO after embattled interim CEO Ellen Pao resigned on 10 July. In a post a day back as CEO, Huffman attempted "to re-establish a relationship with the community" during an Ask Me Anything session.

Huffman attempted to win back users of the online community by assuring them that he would never look to ban content, unless Reddit was forced to, the Daily Mail reported.

However, Huffman said that recent developments at the company, including the controversial firing of communications director Victoria Taylor, would not likely change.

Asked about Taylor's firing and the possibility of her return, Huffman said he stood by that decision, Mashable reported. "No. I now she was well-loved by many moderators, and I'm very sorry at how everything played out. It could have been handled much better," he said.

Huffman added, "However, she was let go for specific reasons, which I obviously will not share, and we will stand by that decision."

Taylor's abrupt firing caused a massive shutdown of over 300 subreddits in protests. It also led to backlash against Pao, including a petition to oust her. Before leaving Reddit, Pao apologized to users in a statement published on the site. "We screwed up. Today, we acknowledge this long history of mistakes," she wrote.

Huffman insisted that Pao was not a "scapegoat" and instead "took one on the chin" in the company's time of crisis.

He acknowledged the company had a lot to improve. Huffman said, "I know we have a lot of work to do. One of my first priorities is to re-establish a relationship with the community. This is the first of what I expect will be many AMAs (I'm thinking I'll do these weekly)."

The new CEO also spoke of Reddit's future plans. "Of course the board wants to see growth," he added. "I want to see growth, too. We're not going to see much growth without serious product efforts, and we're not going to get serious products efforts without more resources. Fortunately, I have the ability to get those resources, so that's what I'll do."