Facebook employees revolt over Zuckerberg's stance on Trump

Mark Zuckerberg is facing major backlash from his employees. Photo / AP

Mark Zuckerberg is facing a backlash within Facebook, with several senior employees publicly criticising the chief executive for refusing to take action over controversial posts by President Donald Trump, and other staff staging "virtual walkouts".

As protests and rioting over the death in police custody of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, spread through several American cities, Mr Zuckerberg was forced to defend Facebook's position as — in his words — "an institution committed to free expression".

On Friday, Mr Trump posted on Facebook and Twitter that he would respond to violent protests with military force, saying: "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." While Twitter slapped a warning on the post and hid it from view for "glorifying violence", Facebook left the message intact.

Over the weekend, Facebook employees contrasted their company's stance unfavourably with Twitter's, which last week also labelled two of Mr Trump's other tweets as potentially misleading.

Ryan Freitas, who leads Facebook's News Feed design team, said in a tweet: "Mark is wrong, and I will endeavour in the loudest possible way to change his mind".

Giving a platform to incite violence and spread disinformation is unacceptable

Andrew Crow, head of design for Facebook's Portal videoconferencing deviceJason Toff, who joined Facebook as a director of product management a year ago, pointed to a broader upsurge of employee activism inside the company. "I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we're showing up," he posted on Twitter. "The majority of co-workers I've spoken to feel the same way. We are making our voice heard."

Other staff said on Twitter that they would be partaking in "virtual walkouts" — in other words, not signing on to work — in protest over Mr Zuckerberg's approach. One Instagram product manager, Katie Zhu, said: "I'm deeply disappointed & ashamed in how the company is showing up the world . . . If u feel similarly, join me & let's organise. put your ~$~zuck bucks~$ where ur tweets are."

The backlash inside the world's largest social media platform forced Mr Zuckerberg to post two messages within three days — one to explain his decision and another that offered a $10m donation to groups working on racial justice.

Facebook on Monday said it would support employees taking part in the virtual walkouts and would not require them to use paid time off to do so. The company has also brought forward its Thursday all-staff meeting — during which Mr Zuckerberg typically takes questions from employees directly — to Tuesday.

"We encourage employees to speak openly when they disagree with leadership," a Facebook spokesperson said. "As we face additional difficult decisions around content ahead, we'll continue seeking their honest feedback."

Late on Monday, Mr Zuckerberg and Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg attempted to win over civil rights activists — who have strongly objected to Mr Zuckerberg's approach — during a phone call.

Twitter has decided to take steps against Donald Trump's use of its platform. Photo / AP

However, they were rebuffed by those on the call, who included Vanita Gupta, chief executive of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and Rashad Robinson, president of the Color of Change.

"We are disappointed and stunned by Mark's incomprehensible explanations for allowing the Trump posts to remain up," the groups said in a statement. "He refuses to acknowledge how Facebook is facilitating Trump's call for violence against protesters," they said, adding that Mr Zuckerberg "is setting a very dangerous precedent."

Tech staffers have proven a potent force for change in Silicon Valley in recent years, as companies including Google, Microsoft and Amazon have been targeted by their own employees over issues including workplace conditions, climate change and military contracts.

Executives and companies across the tech industry, including Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Netflix, as well as Salesforce, Slack, Uber and Twitter, expressed their support for antiracism and criminal justice campaigns, through messages to employees, on their homepages or via official social media accounts.

"To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter," said Netflix. Amazon said: "The inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our country must stop."

Facebook has faced protests in the past, most recently when Mr Zuckerberg made the decision last year not to fact check political advertising on the platform. While the chief executive has since doubled down on that particular policy, the company has moved ahead with plans to set up an independent content moderation committee, which could effectively outsource the most challenging decisions.

On Friday night, Mr Zuckerberg wrote on his own Facebook profile that he had been "struggling with how to respond" to Mr Trump's posts.

"I know many people are upset that we've left the President's posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies," he said. "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 scrutinised out in the open."

However, after the Axios news website reported Mr Zuckerberg had a "productive" phone call with Mr Trump on Friday, several employees took to Twitter over the weekend in protest at their chief executive's position.

Lauren Tan, who left Netflix to join Facebook as a software engineer earlier this year, said in a tweet: "Facebook's inaction in taking down Trump's post inciting violence makes me ashamed to work here."

Andrew Crow, head of design for Facebook's Portal videoconferencing device, posted on Twitter: "Censoring information that might help people see the complete picture is wrong. But giving a platform to incite violence and spread disinformation is unacceptable."

On Sunday night, following the barrage of criticism, Mr Zuckerberg made another Facebook post.

"We stand with the Black community," he wrote. "But it's clear Facebook also has more work to do to keep people safe and ensure our systems don't amplify bias."

Facebook would donate $10m to groups working to tackle racial injustice, he said, while also pointing to the tens of millions of dollars more that his personal philanthropic organisation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, invested in similar causes each year. "This week has made it clear how much more there is to do," he said.

Written by: Tim Bradshaw and Hannah Murphy

© Financial Times