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Facebook employees stage a virtual walkout saying US President Donald Trump's posts should be reined in
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  • Facebook employees stage a virtual walkout saying US President Donald Trump's posts should be reined in

Facebook employees stage a virtual walkout saying US President Donald Trump's posts should be reined in

Reuters • June 2, 2020, 09:25:07 IST
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Dozens of Facebook employees have put up online posts criticising Zuckerberg’s decision to leave Trump’s most inflammatory verbiage unchallenged.

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Facebook employees stage a virtual walkout saying US President Donald Trump's posts should be reined in

Facebook employees walked away from their work-from-home desks on Monday and took to Twitter to accuse Chief Executive **Mark Zuckerberg of inadequately policing US President Donald Trump's posts** as strictly as the rival platform has done. Dozens of online posts from employees critical of Zuckerberg’s decision to leave Trump’s most inflammatory verbiage unchallenged where **Twitter had labeled it** . Some top managers participated in the protest, reminiscent of a **2018 walkout at Alphabet Inc's Google over sexual harassment** . [caption id=“attachment_7881121” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] ![Representational Image.](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/facebook-1024-.jpg) Representational Image.[/caption] It was a rare case of staff publicly taking their CEO to task, with one employee tweeting that thousands participated. Among them were all seven engineers on the team maintaining the React code library which supports Facebook’s apps. “Facebook’s recent decision to not act on posts that incite violence ignores other options to keep our community safe. We implore the Facebook leadership to #TakeAction,” they said in a joint statement published on Twitter.

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
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“Mark is wrong, and I will endeavor in the loudest possible way to change his mind,” wrote Ryan Freitas, identified on Twitter as director of product design for Facebook’s News Feed. He added he had mobilized “50+ likeminded folks” to lobby for internal change.

Facebookʼs recent decision to not act on posts that incite violence ignores other options to keep our community safe. I've made my disagreement known internally. Remaining silent in the face of oppression only strengthens the voice of the oppressor. #BlackLivesMatter #takeaction pic.twitter.com/o3aEJ55e8I

— Gülay Birand ⚡️ (@gbirand) June 1, 2020
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A Facebook employee said Zuckerberg’s weekly Friday question-and-answer session would be moved up this week to Tuesday. Katie Zhu, a product manager at Instagram, tweeted a screenshot showing she had entered “#BLACKLIVESMATTER” to describe her request for time off as part of the walkout.

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We have a responsibility @Facebook to keep people safe. We are calling on leadership to reconsider decisions made last week. #TakeAction and reduce harm. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/et0HyFQMJQ

— Angela Among Strangers (@_amongstrangers) June 1, 2020

Facebook Inc will allow employees participating in the protest to take the time off without drawing down their vacation days, spokesman Andy Stone said. Separately, online therapy company Talkspace said it ended partnership discussions with Facebook. Talkspace CEO Oren Frank tweeted he would “not support a platform that incites violence, racism, and lies.”

Social Justice

Tech workers at companies including Facebook, Google, and Amazon.com Inc have pursued social justice issues in recent years, urging the companies to change policies. Employees “recognize the pain many of our people are feeling right now, especially our Black community,” said Liz Bourgeois, a Facebook spokeswoman. “We encourage employees to speak openly when they disagree with leadership. As we face additional difficult decisions around content ahead, we’ll continue seeking their honest feedback.” Last week, nationwide **unrest erupted after the death of a black man** , George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis last Monday. **Video footage showed** a white officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes before he died. On Friday, **Twitter Inc affixed a warning label to a Trump tweet** that included the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter said it violated rules against glorifying violence but was left up as a public interest exception.

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Facebook declined to act on the same message, and **Zuckerberg sought to distance his company from the fight between the president and Twitter** . On Friday, Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post that while he found Trump’s remarks “deeply offensive,” they did not violate company policy against incitements to violence and people should know whether the government was planning to deploy force.

This has been an incredibly tough week after a string of tough weeks. The killing of George Floyd showed yet again that… Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on  Friday, 29 May 2020

Zuckerberg’s post also said Facebook had been in touch with the White House to explain its policies. Jason Toff, a director of product management and former head of short-form video app Vine, was one of several Facebook employees organizing fundraisers for racial justice groups in Minnesota. Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook on Monday the company would contribute an additional $10 million to social justice causes.

The pain of the last week reminds us how far our country has to go to give every person the freedom to live with dignity… Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on  Sunday, 31 May 2020

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
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Toff tweeted: “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.”

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