Mark Zukerberg said in a message that he found the comments “deeply offensive”. (File)
Facebook workers criticizing CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision not to delete an inflammatory comment from US President Donald Trump released their dissent this weekend on Twitter, praising rival social media firm for taking action and berating them own employer.
Many tech workers in companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon have become active on social justice issues in recent years and have urged their employers to take action and change their policies.
However, Zuckerberg’s criticism marked a rare case of high-level employees publicly blaming their own CEOs, at least three of the seven critical positions seen by Reuters from people who identified themselves as senior executives.
“Mark is wrong, and I will try to change my mind as much as possible,” wrote Ryan Freitas, whose Twitter account identifies him as director of product design for Facebook’s news feed. He added that he had mobilized “more than 50 like-minded people” to press for internal change.
Jason Toff, identified as director of product management, wrote, “I work at Facebook and I’m not proud of the way we present ourselves. The majority of colleagues I have spoken to feel the same way. We make our voices heard. “
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the employees’ dissent.
On Friday, Twitter hid a Trump tweet that included the phrase “when looting begins, filming begins” behind a warning label. He said the tweet violated Twitter rules against “glorifying violence”, but that it was considered a “public service exception”.
Facebook declined to follow up on the same message, Zuckerberg said in a Facebook article on Friday that although he found the comments “deeply offensive”, the company decided not to violate its policy against “incitement to violence” .
Some of the dissident employees directly praised Twitter’s response.
“Respect from @ Twitter’s integrity team for calling the app,” wrote David Gillis, identified as the director of product design. In a long Twitter thread, he said he understood the logic of Facebook’s decision, but said, “I think it would have been fair for us to make an exception” the spirit of politics “that takes more into the context. “
Toff was one of the many Facebook employees who organized fundraisers for nonprofit groups helping protesters in Minnesota. Zuckerberg said in a Facebook article on Monday that the company would contribute an additional $ 10 million to social justice cases.
“Giving a platform to incite violence and spread disinformation is unacceptable, no matter who you are or if it is worthy of interest,” wrote another Facebook manager, Andrew Crow, design manager for the Portal product. “I do not agree with Mark’s position and I will work to make the change happen.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
