Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday June 04 2020, @04:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the having-your-cake-and-eating-it-too-OR-let-them-eat-cake? dept.

Zuckerberg Accused of Setting Dangerous Precedent

Zuckerberg accused of setting dangerous precedent:

Mark Zuckerberg is setting a "dangerous precedent" by allowing a post by Donald Trump to remain on Facebook, a group of civil rights leaders has warned.

[...] In the post, the president wrote he would "send in the National Guard", and warned that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts".

Mr Trump shared the same message on Twitter, where it was hidden behind a warning label, prompting an escalating row between Twitter and the White House.

Mr Zuckerberg had previously defended his decision to leave the same post up on Facebook, saying he disagreed with Mr Trump's words but that people "should be able to see this for themselves".

After meeting Mr Zuckerberg, three civil rights leaders responded that he was wrong.

[...] The joint statement, released on Monday night, was signed by Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Sherrilyn Ifill, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change. It has been published online by Axios.

A Facebook spokesman said: "We're grateful that leaders in the civil rights community took the time to share candid, honest feedback with Mark and Sheryl [Sandberg, Facebook's COO].

Mark Zuckerberg on Leaked Audio: Trump's Looting and Shooting Reference "Has no History of Dogwhistling

Mark Zuckerberg on leaked audio: Trump's looting and shooting reference "has no history of being read as a dog whistle":

In an internal video call with Facebook employees on Tuesday obtained by Recode, CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubled down on his controversial decision to take no action on a post last week from President Donald Trump. In the post, Trump referred to the ongoing protests in the US against racism and police brutality and said, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Facebook's handling of Trump's post — which included language similar to what segregationists used when referring to black protesters in the civil rights era — has divided employees at Facebook and prompted them to openly criticize Zuckerberg in a way they never have before. Around 400 employees staged a virtual walkout of work on Monday, at least two employees have resigned in protest, others have threatened to resign, and several senior-level managers have publicly disagreed with Zuckerberg's stance — calling for him to take down or otherwise moderate Trump's post, as Facebook's competitor Twitter already has.

[...] "I knew that the stakes were very high on this, and knew a lot of people would be upset if we made the decision to leave it up," Zuckerberg said on the call. He went on to say that after reviewing the implications of Trump's statement, he decided that "the right action for where we are right now is to leave this up."

[...] "We basically concluded after the research and after everything I've read and all the different folks that I've talked to that the reference is clearly to aggressive policing — maybe excessive policing — but it has no history of being read as a dog whistle for vigilante supporters to take justice into their own hands," Zuckerberg said on the call. He also said that, overall, Facebook still reserves the right to moderate Trump.

Civil Rights Leaders Slam Zuckerberg Over Response to Trump Posts, Says Report

Civil rights leaders slam Zuckerberg over response to Trump posts, says report:

A group of civil rights leaders issued a scathing statement on Monday about Facebook in the wake of a meeting with the social networking company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg and other top executives, according to a report by Axios. The meeting was set-up to discuss Facebook's decision to leave up a post by US President Donald Trump that the civil rights leaders say incites violence.

"He [Zuckerberg] did not demonstrate understanding of historic or modern-day voter suppression and he refuses to acknowledge how Facebook is facilitating Trump's call for violence against protesters," the heads of the The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Color of Change said in a joint statement. "Mark is setting a very dangerous precedent for other voices who would say similar harmful things on Facebook."

The meeting, which was held on Monday night over video call, came after Facebook employees staged a rare protest in the form of a virtual walkout to express their anger against Zuckerberg's response to Trump. It also followed Twitter's move to hide the same post by Trump behind a warning that says the tweet violated the site's rules against "glorifying violence."

"We're grateful that leaders in the civil rights community took the time to share candid, honest feedback with Mark and Sheryl [Sandberg]," a Facebook company spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. "It is an important moment to listen, and we look forward to continuing these conversations."

[...] "We believe that if a post incites violence, it should be removed regardless of whether it is newsworthy, even if it comes from a politician."


Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2 Original Submission #3

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Thursday June 04 2020, @03:38PM (6 children)

    by TheGratefulNet (659) on Thursday June 04 2020, @03:38PM (#1003242)

    everything he says is lies.

    there is no public good from that.

    deplatform him.

    he's not helping. in fact, he's stirring the pot and he's the cancer this country needs to eliminate.

    deplatform him.

    we'll start the healing process as soon as that happens.

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday June 04 2020, @04:40PM (2 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday June 04 2020, @04:40PM (#1003285) Journal

    Sorry, censorship is fascism, always. We can't go around telling people what they can hear and see. Direct your energy to the people who listen and believe and follow

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 04 2020, @08:25PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 04 2020, @08:25PM (#1003348)

      That is what Twitter did.

      Seems the liar-in-chief didn't much like it.

      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday June 04 2020, @09:34PM

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday June 04 2020, @09:34PM (#1003366) Journal

        Twitter doesn't own the wire. They can't block your internet access. Whatever they do is their business and not even newsworthy.

        --
        La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 04 2020, @06:57PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 04 2020, @06:57PM (#1003324)

    Or instead the news could simply stop worshiping every word he says. No need to de-platform and open that can of worms when you can simply ignore the message. Yet somehow all the people who hate Trump can't stop talking about him. They follow Trump with more passion than his supporters. If you're tired of Trump than stop hanging onto every tiny little thing he does.

    Instead you guys are screaming everyone needs to censor the things I don't like because I don't have any self-control and can't stop looking at things I don't like. GROW THE FUCK UP. If you don't like something, avoid it yourself.

    What you said about him also applies to most salesmen, many CEOs, and a ton of other organizations. Go move to China were are all unconfirmed truths are illegal. That's your ideal country.