A software engineer from Facebook put out a lengthy post on social media on Tuesday evening, explaining to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg why he was resigning.
Slamming Zuckerberg for his silence over US President Donald Trump’s repeated statements on social media that are deemed ‘newsworthy’, Timothy J Aveni wrote, “For years, President Trump has enjoyed an exception to Facebook’s Community Standards; over and over, he posts abhorrent, targeted messages that would get any other Facebook user suspended from the platform. He’s permitted to break the rules, since his political speech is ‘newsworthy.’”
Critical of Zuckerberg’s inability to take a stand despite repeated claims that ‘Facebook would not tolerate hate speech’, Aveni added, “Mark always told us that he would draw the line at speech that calls for violence. He showed us on Friday that this was a lie. Facebook will keep moving the goalposts every time Trump escalates, finding excuse after excuse not to act on increasingly dangerous rhetoric. Since Friday, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand and process the decision not to remove the racist, violent post Trump made Thursday night, but Facebook, complicit in the propagation of weaponised hatred, is on the wrong side of history.”
Saying that he could not keep excusing Facebook’s behaviour, Aveni said, the social media site is providing a platform that enables politicians to radicalise individuals and glorify violence. “We are watching the United States succumb to the same kind of social media-fuelled division that has gotten people killed in the Philippines, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. I’m scared for my country and I’m done trying to justify this,” he added.
The death of George Floyd, 46, an African-American man has sparked debates regarding police brutality and institutional racism in the United States of America yet again.
In Minneapolis, where the incident occurred, widespread protests have broken out and protesters even set fire to a police precinct on Thursday night.
In reaction to this, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to condemn the inaction of the Mayor Jacob Frey, whom he referred to as 'radically left'. He also warned Frey to "get his act together and get the city under control" or else he would send in the National Guard "to get the job done right".
In a follow-up tweet which has now been blocked by Twitter , the POTUS also mentioned that he spoke to the Minneapolis Governor, Tim Walz and assured him that the "military was with him all the way". However, in the same tweet, he described the protesters as 'thugs' and accused them of dishonouring the memory of George Floyd. He said that if there was anymore difficulty, they would assume control and warned that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
This remark has resulted in Twitter flagging this tweet of the President. Jack Dorsey, Twitter founder and CEO took to Twitter on Thursday to fact-check Trump, where he said that the platform would continue to point out incorrect information pertaining to elections.
Jack also said that this does not make Twitter the 'arbiter of truth' and they they merely aim to "connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions."
