ZUCKERBERG HOLDS FIRM

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday defended the company’s decision not to take action against President Trump’s controversial posts about protests that have swept the nation in response to the death of George Floyd.

During a virtual question-and-answer session with employees, Zuckerberg said that Facebook’s policies and principles in regard to free speech showed that “the right action” was to leave the posts up, according to audio of the call heard by The New York Times.

“I knew that I would have to separate out my personal opinion,” Zuckerberg said. “Knowing that when we made this decision we made, it was going to lead to a lot of people upset inside the company, and the media criticism we were going to get.”

A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill that “open and honest discussion has always been a part of Facebook’s culture. Mark had an open discussion with employees today, as he has regularly over the years.”

“He’s grateful for their feedback,” the spokesperson added.