Facebook Inc. (FB) employees working from home due to the pandemic took on Twitter to pressure their boss Mark Zuckerberg to put restriction on what they term as inciting posts from U.S President Donald Trump which are doing rounds on various social media platforms owned by the company.
Most of them who include top management staff is accusing the Facebook CEO of turning a blind eye by deciding to leave Trump’s inflammatory posts go unchallenged. The employees now want Facebook to take the same route which competitor social network Twitter Inc. (TWTR) took including pulling down such posts.
“Facebook’s recent decision to not act on posts that incite violence ignores other options to keep our community safe. We implore the Facebook leadership to #TakeAction,” read the tweet by Facebook employees.
According to a tweet by a single Facebook employee, Ryan Freitas, more than a thousand employees from Facebook participated including seven engineers including who are involved in maintaining the react code library which supports apps owned by Facebook.
“Mark is wrong, and I will endeavor in the loudest possible way to change his mind,” tweeted Freitas further adding he had mobilized 50+ likeminded individuals to push for internal change.
Another Facebook employee, Katie Zhu, the product manager at Instagram attached screenshots in her tweet from her Instagram account showing she had joined the movement #BLACKLIVESMATTER#. She requested for time off as part of her walkout.
Facebook’s spokesperson Andy Stone said weekly questions and answer questions by CEO Zuckerberg will be shifted from Friday to Tuesday further adding that any Facebook employee is free to take part in the protests.
“Facebook will allow employees participating in the protest to take the time off without drawing down their vacation days,” said Stone. “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,” he added.
