Digg appoints chief executive to steady the ship

Digg is attempting to weather accusations of widespread censorship

Digg has appointed Matt Williams, a former Amazon general manager of consumer payments, as chief executive in a bid to allay fears about the site's future.

Digg founder Kevin Rose said in a blog post that he will "still remain actively involved in the product", but is handing over the day-to-day running of the business to Williams.

The site has had a turbulent month after accusations that it was being used by conservatives to bury 'liberal' stories.

A group nicknamed the 'Digg Patriots' is believed to have censored hundreds of users, and removed thousands of stories from the site, according to AlterNet.

The 'Digg Patriots' were reported to be 100 members strong, and to have had the capability to bury over 90 per cent of articles submitted by certain users and web sites within one to three hours, AlterNet claimed.

Just when things couldn't get worse, Digg faced a backlash from users after a redesigned version of the site unveiled on 25 August was plagued by bugs.

Many users were unable to reach the site, and those that could voiced their displeasure, some calling it a Facebook clone.

Key features including the ability to bury stories were removed as were upcoming stories, favourites, friends and profile search sections.

Digg version 4 shows no signs of going away, but some features may be resurrected to prevent further alienation of the user base.

"Introducing change is never easy, and bringing something as radically different as Digg version 4 was bound to generate a strong reaction," said Rose.

"We are absolutely listening and really value everyone's feedback as we take Digg in new directions. Matt is the right leader for Digg and we're all truly excited about moving forward."

Williams acknowledged that the launch of version 4 was a "big moment for Digg ", but believes in the potential of the new platform.

"There is so much innovation yet to come. Being the best in the world at curating news means solving the information overload we all experience every day," he said.

"The Digg team has already made great strides in this direction, and there is much more ahead."