Facebook employees stage virtual walkout after Zuckerberg declines to act against Trump’s inflammatory post

Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout after CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to take official action against President Donald Trump’s inflammatory post regarding the nationwide protests that erupted after the killing of George Floyd by police on May 25, 2020. The Facebook staff members involved argued that Zuckerberg’s lack of action put Black Americans in danger by allowing Trump to stoke societal divisions with impunity. Zuckerberg maintained that Facebook should keep a hands-off approach to censoring content, arguing that users should employ their own discretion to decide what is or is not acceptable.

Key Players

Facebook is a social media organization founded and led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In recent history, Facebook’s platform has been the center of an ongoing conversation about censorship and Free Speech. The company has had varied responses to potentially harmful posts in the past. For instance, in 2019 Facebook set out to ban posts about white nationalism from right-wing figures, while later that year it refused to take down a falsified video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D).

Donald Trump is the 45th president of the United States. On May 26, 2020, he wrote two tweets voicing his opposition to voting by mail while making a false statement that it would result in a “Rigged Election.” Twitter added a message to his tweets allowing users to “get the facts about mail-in ballots.” On May 28, Trump issued his “Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship.”

Further Details

On May 28, Trump tweeted the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” in reference to the George Floyd protests. This act resulted in Twitter adding a warning to his tweet, which said the post “violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence.” This same tweet was also published on Trump’s Facebook page; however, unlike Twitter, Facebook did not take action. 

Facebook’s virtual walkout took place June 1, 2020, with hundreds of employees participating. The protest took the form of employees refusing to work, as well as their adding an automated message to their emails and other online profiles stating they were out of office in a show of support for Black Lives Matter demonstrators. 

Staff members also used Twitter to voice their concern. Trevor Phillippi, a product designer for Facebook, tweeted, “Facebook’s decision to not act on posts that incite violence against black people fails to keep our community safe. I’m asking that we revisit this decision and provide more transparency into the process, inclusive of black leadership.”

Employees called on Zuckerberg to remove Trump’s post immediately, according to The New York Times. Zuckerberg, however, maintains that Facebook should allow users to decide for themselves what to believe, and that the company should take a hands-off approach. 

Outcome 

Facebook the target of protests from employees and advocacy groups

Timothy Aveni, a software engineer for Facebook, quit his job in protest of Zuckerberg’s response, announcing his decision via a post to his personal Facebook profile on June 1, 2020. Aveni wrote, “Mark always told us that he would draw the line at speech that calls for violence. He showed us on Friday that this was a lie. Facebook will keep moving the goalposts every time Trump escalates, finding excuse after excuse not to act on increasingly dangerous rhetoric. Since Friday, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand and process the decision not to remove the racist, violent post Trump made Thursday night, but Facebook, complicit in the propagation of weaponized hatred, is on the wrong side of history. I cannot keep excusing Facebook’s behavior.” 

In an interview with CNN, Aveni described his resignation as an “extreme option” and stated that it was not the right move for everyone. 

Politicians and advocacy groups also criticized Zuckerberg. On June 10, Democrats from the House Committee on Homeland Security wrote a letter to the Facebook CEO criticizing his lack of action on Trump’s “violent, harassing, and dangerous rhetoric.” The Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge, both left-leaning groups, refused to continue to accept funding from Facebook in light of Zuckerberg’s decision, according to NPR. 

Zuckerberg speaks with Trump and posts public statement

Trump and Zuckerberg had a phone call about the matter that both parties agreed was “productive,” according to Axios.

Zuckerberg also made a post to his Facebook page, writing, “Personally, I have a visceral negative reaction to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric. This moment calls for unity and calmness, and we need empathy for the people and communities who are hurting. … But I’m responsible for reacting not just in my personal capacity but as the leader of an institution committed to free expression. 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. … Our policy around incitement of violence allows discussion around state use of force, although I think today’s situation raises important questions about what potential limits of that discussion should be.”

Facebook takes criticism into account, commits to labeling and removing posts

On June 26, 2020, Mark Zuckerberg posted on Facebook an announcement that the platform will be flagging and removing posts that encourage violence or attempt to suppress voting. According to The Washington Post, some critics felt Zuckerberg’s announcement was not adequate. Brandi Collins-Dexter, senior campaign director at Color of Change, an advocacy group critical of Facebook, told The Post that while the change is good, it is still not enough. Similarly, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said she believed Facebook has not historically done well at enforcing its own policies and argued this time may be no different.