Facebook Employees Protest Inflammatory Trump Posts With Virtual Walkout
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Facebook’s employees are taking a stand against the social media platform’s inaction over President Trump’s inflammatory posts.
Several Facebook employees staged a “virtual walkout” today, where they are taking the day off work to show solidarity with the national protests in response to the death of George Floyd, who was killed while under police custody on May 25.
The virtual walkout is in large part a response to Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to remove incendiary posts by Trump on the widespread protests and looting that took place over the weekend, specifically a May 29 post where he incites violence by stating “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Zuckerberg posted a lengthy message on his Facebook page later that day explaining his refusal, stating: “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 went on to state that since the message referenced the National Guard, the post served as a warning on state action that he thought the public should be aware of.
Twitter, on the other hand, flagged Trump’s post with a warning that stated the tweet violated the social media platform’s rules against glorifying violence. The tweet is still up on his account.
On Sunday, Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook is donating $10 million to groups working to fight racial injustice.
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