Zuckerberg Tells Facebook Employees He's Not Going To Moderate Trump

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook Inc. FB, told employees at a Tuesday virtual all-hands meeting that he was firm on not moderating a post by President Donald Trump about protests against the killing of George Floyd.

What Happened

Zuckerberg told employees that Facebook’s principles and policies in support of free speech “show that the right action where we are right now is to leave this  [the president’s post] up.” The chief executive acknowledged that many people would be upset by his decision. 

Last week, Trump took to social media and advocated strong action against protestors, saying, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." This post was labeled as glorifying violence by Twitter Inc. TWTR but left untouched by Facebook. 

The CEO also brought up his phone call held with Trump Friday. He revealed, “I used that opportunity to make him know I felt this post was inflammatory and harmful, and let him know where we stood on it.”

Facebook employees have taken to protesting on Twitter regarding the company's stance on Trump's posts. Brandon Dail, a user interface engineer at Facebook, tweeted Tuesday.

It's crystal clear today that leadership refuses to stand with us. https://t.co/duSSRmD5gR

— Brandon Dail (@aweary) June 2, 2020

Why It Matters

A number of Facebook employees have resigned following the stance taken by Zuckerberg and the social media giant, reported the New York Times.

Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout on Monday, protesting the company's policy on Trump's posts.

According to the Times, protestors marked their presence outside Zuckerberg’s residential neighborhood in Palo, Alto, California as well as Facebook’s headquarters at Menlo Park.

Civil rights groups held a meeting with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, and Zuckerberg on Monday and labeled the company’s stance on the Trump posts as “totally confounding.”

Facebook Price Action

Facebook shares traded 0.24% lower at $232.15 in the after-hours session on Tuesday. The shares had closed the regular session 0.35% higher at $232.72.

Image Credit: Wikimedia.