Zuckerberg defends Facebook’s hands-off response to Trump’s controversial post, report says

Facebook CEO and co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is reportedly standing by the company’s decision not to take action against President Donald Trump’s contribution, which employees say could lead to violence.

The New York Times, which heard audio from an internal meeting, reported on Tuesday Zuckerberg told the employees that he had made a “difficult decision” but that it was “pretty thorough”. His comments come a day after hundreds of Facebook employees hosted a virtual strike to protest the company’s decision, contrary to how Twitter dealt with the same content.

In social media posts shared on both Twitter and Facebook, Trump said: “When the looting begins, the shootings begin.” The president made the comments in response to news about protests that followed the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota who died after a white cop kneeled him on Floyd’s neck. The incident was recorded in a video in which Floyd repeatedly said that he could not breathe.

Twitter has picked out the President’s tweet with a note that says Swiss Post violates its rules against the glorification of violence. However, since the president’s words are of public interest, users can click the Show button in the notification to read the tweet, according to Twitter. Facebook left Trump’s post unaffected after the company determined that the President’s statements did not violate his rules against creating an “immediate risk of specific harm or danger.” Facebook enables discussion of state violence, and Zuckerberg said the company has left Trump’s post referring to the National Guard, and the social network “read it as a warning of government action.” He also noted that Trump later clarified that his post was a warning of how looting could lead to violence.

Conservatives have accused Facebook and other websites of censoring their speech, but companies have repeatedly denied these allegations. Trump signed an executive order Thursday in an attempt to limit the federal government’s legal protection social networks receive from posts made by its users.

He also told employees at the conference call that the company’s free speech policy shows that Facebook was “doing the right thing” by leaving the mail open, “the New York Times reported.

According to reports, Facebook employees disagree as to whether the company has properly addressed Trump’s posts. The social network typically takes a hands-off approach to posts and ads posted by politicians, but draws a line if the content could cause “the immediate risk of specific harm or danger”. The company sets a higher bar for removing political speeches because it believes that people should see what politicians say and their speech is already under scrutiny by the public and the media.

A Facebook employee who was not mentioned told Business insider He believed that the company was technically correct in applying its current guidelines, but asked whether the company rules were “ultimately sustainable”.

Others publicly expressed their disappointment with the meeting on Twitter. Facebook engineer Brandon Dail said in a tweet: “It is crystal clear today that the leadership refuses to stand with us.”

Some Facebook employees have threatened to resign and have continued to pursue the decision. On Tuesday, Facebook software developer Timothy Aveni said in a social network and LinkedIn post that he was leaving his job on June 12.

“Mark has always told us that he would draw the line in a speech that calls for violence. He showed us on Friday that this was a lie. Facebook will move the goalposts every time Trump escalates, and one Find excuses after another for not responding to increasingly dangerous actions. ” Rhetoric, “Aveni said in a Facebook post.

It is unclear how many Facebook employees have resigned in protest. The company employs more than 48,200 people worldwide. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.