Reuters
- Some fellow tech workers are encouraging Facebook employees that are unhappy with the company's handling of President Trump's controversial post to step down from the company.
- The comments come as Facebook employees have been voicing their concerns with Facebook's policies by speaking out and holding a virtual walkout.
- One Facebook engineer has already resigned over the company's recent decision.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
As some Facebook employees are voicing their opposition to the company's handling of a post published by Donald Trump, some in the tech community are urging Facebook employees to step down from the company in protest.
Facebook employees held a virtual walkout on Monday in protest of the company's decision not to take action against President Trump's post about the protests being held over the death of George Floyd. The post in question included the phrase "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Twitter placed a warning for the same post on its platform for glorifying violence.
The walkout came after several current Facebook employees took to Twitter to voice their disapproval of Facebook's lack of action.
Now, some fellow tech workers are encouraging employees to step down from their positions at Facebook in protest.
"I quit Google when they started developing weapons of war with the DoD," Alex Hidalgo, a site reliability engineer at Squarespace, tweeted on May 30 in response to a Facebook employee that said he disagrees about the company's recent decisions. "It's totally 100% an option. I did it. So can you."
Tweet Embed://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1266893411510034434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I quit Google when they started developing weapons of war with the DoD. It's totally 100% an option. I did it. So can you.
One Facebook software engineer, Timothy J. Aveni, said in recent a LinkedIn post that he stepped down from the social media giant over such concerns.
"I cannot stand by Facebook's continued refusal to act on the president's bigoted messages aimed at radicalizing the American public," Aveni wrote.
Jack Poulson, a former senior research scientist at Google who resigned in 2018 over its controversial Chinese search engine project, also shared a similar sentiment on Twitter.
"A small group of workers can collectively have a huge impact," Poulson tweeted.
Tweet Embed://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1267571410475589634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It only took 9 Google workers -- the "Group of Nine" -- to block federal cloud cert. and kickstart the rejection of Google's aid to drone warfare. This was the seed for the DoD adopting its own AI Principles.
A small group of workers can collectively have a huge impact. https://t.co/5bpDMNdOpD
Tim Hockin, a principal software engineer at Google, encouraged tech workers at Facebook to "use your powers for good."
Tweet Embed://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1267134844749795330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Friends and followers who work at Facebook, especially tech folks - this is NOT OK. Walk out. Quit now. This is your moment. Use your powers for good.
Randy Luecke, a software engineer at Stripe who used to work at Google, tweeted that there are many "highly employable at Facebook right now who could walk away."
Tweet Embed://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1267327166317920258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Everyone has their own situation & circumstances, be it student loans, a work visa, or a family... I'd never suggest anyone quit their job without knowing them.
But there are _A LOT_ of highly employable at Facebook right now who could walk away.
I don't think Zuck will change
Facebook has stood by its decision to take no action against Trump's post, upholding its long-standing outlook that it does not want to be the "arbiter of truth."
"I know many people are upset that we've left the President's posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on May 29.
Facebook has cracked down on content moderation in recent years, particularly when it comes to false news and misinformation. It implemented new rules in January, for example, that call for the removal of manipulated videos that have been doctored to mislead viewers.
But the company's decision not to interfere with political speech and fact-check political ads has drawn much scrutiny.
"I believe strongly that we shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online," Zuckerberg recently said in an interview with Fox News' Dana Perino. "I think, in general, private companies shouldn't be, especially these platform companies, shouldn't be in the position of doing that."
Are you a Facebook employee with insight to share? If so, we want to hear from you. Contact this reporter at leadicicco@businessinsider.com or through encrypted mail at lisaeadicicco@protonmail.com, or send a direct message on Twitter to @LisaEadicicco.
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See Also:
- Twitter suspended hundreds of accounts that used '#dcblackout' to spread false reports of a communications blackout
- An ex-Facebook spokesperson says he was 'wrong' about the company's free-speech mission counteracting ignorance and is urging employees to take action
- How Silicon Valley leaders, from Elon Musk to Tim Cook, are responding to the George Floyd protests
