Mark Zuckerberg is facing a backlash from within Facebook, with several senior employees publicly criticising the chief executive for refusing to take action over controversial posts by President Donald Trump, and other staff members staging ‘virtual walkouts’.
As protests and rioting over the death in police custody of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, spread through several American cities this weekend, Mr Zuckerberg was forced to defend Facebook’s position as — in his words — “an institution committed to free expression”.
On Friday, Mr Trump posted on Facebook and Twitter that he would respond to violent protests with military force, saying: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” But while Twitter slapped a warning on the post and hid it from view for “glorifying violence”, Facebook left the message intact.