Facebook CEO and closet Republican Mark Zuckerberg continues to defend his refusal to either delete or add warnings to president Donald Trump's more incendiary Facebook posts despite angry denunciations from his managers and staff.
Because of his GOP bias, Zuckerberg is an oddity among tech CEOs. Most of these leaders are liberal in outlook and many are active supporters of the pro-poor and anti-rich Democratic Party. They support the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, and disdain Donald Trump.
Zuckerberg's growing right-wing tendencies, which came to light in mid-2019 after a series of high-profile meetings with Republican Party leaders and pundits, seems to account for his stubborn refusal to edit Trump.
The ongoing contest pitting Zuckerberg against liberal Facebook employees centers around the single phrase, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," Trump wrote about May 29 in Twitter and which was also published in Facebook. This phrase was the reason why Twitter hid this post for glorifying violence.
Trump's complete, and flagged tweet, read: "Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him the military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
Pundits noted the infamous phrase, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," was created by Walter Headley, Miami's racist police chief, who in 1967 ordered his cops to use shotguns and dogs to combat crime in black neighborhoods.
Democrats are also lashing out at Zuckerberg. They continue to assail Facebook for allowing politicians to publish ads such as Trump's not subject to third-party fact-checking.
On Friday, Zuckerberg told Facebook employees angered by his decision not to moderate or take down Trump's post the company will review a number of its existing policies. His memo said these policies will include how Facebook treats content dealing with the use of police or state force.
He said Facebook will also review how it can moderate content. As it stands today, Facebook can either retain dubious content or remove it. The review will also cover how Facebook treats content in countries where there is civil unrest or violent conflicts.
He warned, however, that adopting "in-between" approaches like warning users about content and not deleting it might lead to a slippery slope where employees argue over content they personally don't like.
He worries this approach risks Facebook editorializing content it doesn't like even if it doesn't violate its policies, "so I think we need to proceed very carefully."
Zuckerberg also said Facebook will work on products that will advance racial justice. He also said he'd build what he calls a "voter hub" to provide users with access to accurate and authoritative information about voting. Zuckerberg wants Americans to vote in November as the most effective means of protesting injustice.
Zuckerberg also said he stands with Facebook's black community.
"I stand with you," wrote Zuckerberg. "Your lives matter. Black lives matter."
Zuckerberg was forced to write the memo after hundreds of Facebook employees joined a virtual walkout to criticize his decision not to moderate or take down Trump's post. At least two employees resigned over the issue.
Facebook employees against Zuckerberg's decision contend Trump's violates Facebook's community standards that prohibit language that incites serious violence.
