Zuckerberg still under fire over inflammatory Trump posts, CEO takes no action
MENLO PARK, Calif. - Facebook is dealing with some inside and outside pressure to make changes following CEO Mark Zuckerberg's stance about posts on the social media site.
In a meeting with employees Tuesday, Zuckerberg stood behind his position which allows President Trump's controversial post "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" under freedom of expression.
Twitter flagged the same post with a warning because it violated the company's rules about glorifying violence.
According to the New York Times, Zuckerberg Tuesday told Facebook employees in a video chat he had made a "tough decision" but that it "was pretty thorough."
Zuckerberg's employee address comes after a Facebook first.
Hundreds of workers staged a virtual walkout from the Menlo Park-based company Monday, as the majority of employees work from home because of the pandemic.
It marks the first time Facebook workers have taken such action against Zuckerberg in the social media company's history.
"His staff and a huge amount of people inside Facebook are fed up with it," said Tim Bajarin, President of Creative Strategies.
In addition to the walkout, several employees expressed their disagreement online.
"I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we're showing up," tweeted Facebook employee Jason Toff.
"Censoring information that might help people see the complete picture *is* wrong. But giving a platform to incite violence and spread disinformation is unacceptable, regardless who you are or if it's newsworthy," employee Andrew Crow tweeted.
Facebook software engineer Timothy Aveni even resigned, writing on LinkedIn, "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 responded to the walkout in a statement saying, "We recognize the pain many of our people are feeling right now, especially our Black community. 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."
President Trump has said violence was not his intent and accused Twitter and other social media companies of bias against conservatives.
"What they choose to fact check and what they choose to ignore or promote is nothing more than a political activism group," President Trump said last week.
"I actually think this is going to be the biggest test that Zuckerberg has to go through," said Bajarin.
The tech analyst says Facebook's virtual walkout was widespread and involved employees at all levels including executives.
He believes some actions could cause Zuckerberg to change his mind.
"I think two things are going to happen. His staff is going to force him to do something. And I think the extraction of corporate ad dollars is the other thing that'll get his attention," said Bajarin.
Civil rights leaders spoke with Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg Monday and afterwards said they were stunned and disappointed with the company's stance.
Facebook replied, "We’re grateful that leaders in the civil rights community took the time to share candid, honest feedback with Mark and Sheryl. It is an important moment to listen, and we look forward to continuing these conversations."