Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised his company will review content policies after facing severe reaction from its own employees for upholding the controversial posts by the President of the United States.
In a letter to employees that he later posted on Facebook, Zuckerberg acknowledged that his decision not to take action against Trump's publication "When the looting begins, the shooting begins" left his employees enraged. “The decision I made last week left them angry, disappointed, and hurt. So I am especially grateful that despite your heartfelt disagreement, you remain focused on taking positive steps to move forward. That can't be easy, so I just want to say that I'm listening and I'm grateful, ”he wrote.
"We are going to review possible options for handling violated or partially violated content, apart from binary decisions to leave or remove it," he added.
Thousands of Facebook employees opposed Zuckerberg's decision to keep Trump's controversial tweet. One of the employees even quit the company and went to Facebook and wrote saying that the company "will continue to move the posts every time Trump climbs, finding one excuse after another for not acting on increasingly dangerous rhetoric."
However, Zuckerberg in his letter assured his employees that the company will review possible options for handling violated or partially violated content, apart from binary decisions to leave or remove it.
"Our current policy is that if content really incites violence, then the right mitigation is to remove that content and not let people continue to watch it behind a banner. There is no exception to this policy for politicians or journalism. I think this policy is principled and reasonable, but I also respect many people who think that there may be better alternatives, so I want to make sure that we listen to all those ideas. Yesterday I started meeting with the team and we will soon continue the discussion, "Zuckerberg wrote.
The Facebook co-founder also addressed the ongoing protests in the United States that erupted after George Floyd's death at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. "To the members of our black community: I am with you. Your lives matter," he wrote.
“We have a long way to go to overcome racial injustice in the United States and around the world, and we all have the responsibility and the opportunity to change that. I think our platforms will play a positive role in this, but we have to work to make sure that our role is as positive as possible, ”he added.
0 Comments