Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shown a metered reaction towards Trump’s recent posts about the protests. While other social media platforms have taken action and censored the President, Facebook’s decision not to isn’t sitting well with some of its employees.
We’ve already discussed the ways employees are expressing anger at management over the decision – and now it appears Facebook moderators are the next to voice their dissatisfaction.
It is worth noting that Facebook moderators are bound by NDAs which prevent them from revealing their identity. They are, therefore, forced to be anonymous while voicing their concerns.
“We need to express that Mr Zuckerberg’s words about personal dismay caused by Trump’s ‘looting and shooting’ rhetoric are not enough. The benefit of the doubt this politician is being given as a user, even with such a large platform, is unparalleled – the attempt to retroactively place his words behind the context of other posts actually has had effect of putting it on an isolated pedestal. This may be the ultimate exhibit of white exceptionality and further legitimization of state brutality we have witnessed in the last weeks,” read an excerpt from the letter.
The moderators, who have collectively penned the letter, further say that work from home has alienated them further and that they are restricted from voicing out their concerns boldly.
“We are not able to speak freely because we communicate mainly on the company channels. It’s really tricky to even talk about it, to find someone and ask if they want to sign this sort of statement.”
The co-founder of Foxglove, the legal nonprofit organization that has coordinated the letter by Facebook moderators, said that the company should pay more attention to what the moderators have to say, considering the fact that they are on the frontlines of battling “hate speech” on the platform on a regular basis.
The letter concluded by asking Zuckerberg and the management to reconsider their decision regarding Trump’s comments and to honor the “voices of its Black employees and users”.
