Facebook employees ‘walk out’ protesting inaction against Donald Trump’s post
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had defended Facebook's stance stating the institution’s ‘commitment to free expression’
Some Facebook employees staged a virtual walk out on Monday protesting CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to not take action against US President Donald Trump’s posts. The employees expressed their frustration at the CEO’s alleged inaction, especially since rival platforms like Twitter have been more forthcoming about flagging President Trump’s speech.
I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we’re showing up. The majority of coworkers I’ve spoken to feel the same way. We are making our voice heard.
— Jason Toff (@jasontoff) June 1, 2020
After Mark Zukerberg supported the President’s ‘looting and shooting’ comment, #Facebook employees staged a ‘virtual walkout’ ~ #DeleteFacebookNow "Mark always told us that he would draw the line at speech that calls for violence. He showed us on Friday that this was a lie." pic.twitter.com/vxdExS7l9P
— Saloni Verma (@thesaloniverma) June 2, 2020
I don't know what to do, but I know doing nothing is not acceptable. I'm a FB employee that completely disagrees with Mark's decision to do nothing about Trump's recent posts, which clearly incite violence. I'm not alone inside of FB. There isn't a neutral position on racism.
— Stirman (@stirman) May 30, 2020
There was an uproar after President Trump called the protestors “Thugs” and warned about strict action against them. While Twitter was swift in its approach to flag the President’s post, Facebook didn’t showcase the same alacrity. Zuckerberg defended Facebook’s stance, saying, “Our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies.”
