Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has resigned from the board in support of "Black Lives Matter" protests in the US. Ohanian co-founded Reddit, what turned out to be the most popular social news website, 15 years ago and has left the company's board to show his support for the black community. His move came as a shock, but many lauded his bold gesture from a leadership standpoint.

"I co-founded @reddit 15 years ago to help people find community and a sense of belonging. It is long overdue to do the right thing. I'm doing this for me, for my family, and for my country," Ohanian wrote on Twitter.

Reddit co-founder quits board
Reddit co-founder quits boardFlickr / Collision Conf

In addition to quitting the board, Ohanian said that he will be using future gains from his stock to "serve the black community" mainly to curb racial hate. Ohanian also pledged $1 million to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's non-profit Know Your Rights Camp.

"I'm saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?'," Ohanian, who is married to tennis star Serena Williams and has a two-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr, said.

Ohanian had stepped down from his active duties at Reddit back in 2018, but he retained a seat on the company's board.

Reddit communities protest hate speech policies

Protesters gather at the scene where George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was pinned down by a police officer kneeling on his neck before later dying in hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Miller
Protesters gather at the scene where George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was pinned down by a police officer kneeling on his neck before later dying in hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Miller

Ohanian's resignation comes at a sensitive time when the platform is already getting a lot of heat from its users on the lines of racism and hate speech. Some Reddit communities went private to protest the platform's hate speech policies, police brutality and racism in the US.

But former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao openly criticised the platform, saying it "monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long."

"I am obligated to call you out: You should have shut down the_donald instead of amplifying it and its hate, racism, and violence. So much of what is happening now lies at your feet. You don't get to say BLM when reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long," Pao wrote on Twitter.