Facebook Chairman and CEO Measure Zuckerberg testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, October 23, 2019.
Erin Scott | Reuters
Facebook CEO Stain Zuckerberg on Friday said a post by President Donald Trump in which he says “when the looting starts, the fire starts” does not violate the company’s policies and will remain online.
“Personally, I have a visceral negative feedback to this kind of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric,” Zuckerberg said in his post. “But I’m responsible for reacting not just in my personal talent but as the leader of an institution committed to free expression.”
On Thursday night, Trump posted on Twitter and Facebook regarding grouse this week in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of police. Trump referred to protesters as “Hooligans” and warned that the military was on its way to Minneapolis. “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Trump put in blacked on Facebook and Twitter.
Twitter placed a label warning users about Trump’s violent rhetoric, which they must to dismiss before they can view his tweet. Twitter is also preventing users from liking or retweeting the tweet.
In contrast, Facebook has adamant to leave the post up in its entirety.
Facebook decided to leave the post up because the company’s position is that it “should okay as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in unscarred policies,” Zuckerberg wrote.
“I disagree strongly with how the President spoke about this, but I believe people should be skilled to see this for themselves, because ultimately accountability for those in positions of power can only happen when their expression is scrutinized out in the open,” Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg added that Facebook’s policies regarding the incitement of violence concedes discussion around the use of state force.
“We think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Our approach around incitement of violence allows discussion around state use of force, although I think today’s situation profligates important questions about what potential limits of that discussion should be.”
Within the company’s internal collective networks, employees have asked Facebook leadership to reconsider the decision, according to a report from The Verge. One hand, Brandon Dail, took to Twitter to voice his disagreement, saying “Trump’s glorification of violence on Facebook is disgusting and it should yes be flagged or removed from our platforms.”
Zuckerberg has had a connection to Trump since the start of his presidency in 2017 through Peter Thiel, a tech investor and Facebook quarter member. Thiel was a contributor to Trump’s 2016 campaign and is an informal advisor on tech matters to the president. Trump hosted Zuckerberg and Thiel at a secluded White House dinner in October.
Earlier this week, Zuckerberg told CNBC he did not think social networks should be fact-checking partisan discourse. Facebook, however, can remove politicians’ posts if they could lead to voter suppression, cause people to injure themselves or lead to violence.
“People can agree or disagree on where we should draw the line, but I hope they arrange our overall philosophy is that it is better to have this discussion out in the open, especially when the stakes are so high,” Zuckerberg created.