Facebook employees speak up against content decisions

Facebook employees are publicly criticizing the company for not taking action against President Trump’s comments on protests against police brutality.

At least seven Facebook employees have criticized CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to take no action against Trump’s heated rhetoric on demonstrations in the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody.

Jason Stirman, a design manager at the company, said that while he doesn’t know what to do, “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,” he tweeted. “I’m not alone inside of FB. There isn’t a neutral position on racism.”

Jason Toff, director of product management, said he is “not proud” of the company’s position.

“The majority of coworkers I’ve spoken to feel the same way,” Toff tweeted late Sunday night. “We are making our voice heard.”

Existing tensions between the staff and top executives were exacerbated after Trump used his social media accounts to weigh in on the demonstrations in Minneapolis against the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died last week while in police custody. Video of the incident showed a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for roughly eight minutes, leaving him unable to breathe.

The officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Earlier in the week, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo fired Chauvin and three other officers who were on the scene.

Before Trump tweeted Friday, footage showed protesters in the city cheering as the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct was set ablaze.

“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” the president wrote Friday on Facebook and Twitter.

“Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he added. “Thank you!”

While Twitter placed a warning on the tweet, Facebook left the remarks untouched. The Facebook post has received more than 254,000 reactions and 71,000 shares.

Zuckerberg explained his decision to leave the post up as is, saying the platform’s policy around incitement of violence “allows discussion around state use of force.”

“I disagree strongly with how the President spoke about this, but I believe people should be able to see this for themselves, because ultimately accountability for those in positions of power can only happen when their speech is scrutinized out in the open,” Zuckerberg wrote on Friday.