Dozens of employees on Facebook are staging what they call a “virtual walkout” after expressing outrage that the company has tolerated posts by President Trump responding to rioters amid the George Floyd protests.
The online campaign, dubbed #TakeAction, calls for employees to not perform work duties in response to CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to allow Trump’s posts on the platform to stand.
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Trump said last week after images of rioters surfaced. Trump later said his remarks, which were also posted on Twitter, were in reference to an increased possibility of crime during lawless protest.
Twitter hit Trump’s tweets about looting and shooting with a warning, and hid them from public view.
Zuckerberg said he does not agree.
“I don’t think that you build a company that gives people a voice like this if you don’t believe that individuals having a voice is a good thing,” he said last week. “But broadly speaking, we try to give people as much latitude and having a voice as possible.”
Trump has lashed out at Twitter for several attempts to either fact check or censor his statements. He signed an executive order last week that removes shields put in place by Section 230 and is aimed at increasing transparency about how social media companies enforce their rules and regulations.
Employees at Facebook, which reportedly include two senior officials, feel Trump has violated the platform rules regarding standards and “language that incites or facilitates serious violence.”
A spokesperson for Facebook told CNBC the company welcomes criticism from employees.
“We recognize the pain many of our people are feeling right now, especially our Black community,” the company said in a statement. “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.”
