Facebook moderators are not happy about Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to take action leading them to sign a letter protesting Zuckerberg's stance on President Donald Trump's threats.
According to Gizmodo's latest report, many of the firm's staff were joined by a group of Facebook moderators to call out the company's CEO over his refusal to take action against the president's posts that they claim clearly violate the social media platform's rules.
Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth:
Age 36: $88 billion
Age 35: $72 billion
Age 34: $77 billion
Age 33: $65 billion
Age 32: $52 billion
Age 31: $35 billion
Age 30: $26 billion
Age 29: $13 billion
Age 28: $17 billion
Age 27: $14 billion
Age 26: $4 billion
Age 25: $900 million pic.twitter.com/guzAnqVXqM — Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) June 6, 2020
The Guardian also reported that an open letter was written by the moderators, who receive fewer labor protections, stating that they would join staffers who have held virtual walkouts if not for their tenuous employment position. Facebook moderators work for the company as part of its army of third-party contractors.
Meanwhile, Facebook's competitor, Twitter, added a fact check to Trump's tweet advancing baseless conspiracy theories about voting by mail in May. The tweet of President Trump calling for the military to shoot protesters staging largely peaceful demonstrations against racism and police brutality in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd was also hidden by Twitter.
Similar content was also posted on Facebook by Donald Trump, but instead of taking action, Mark Zuckerberg attacked Twitter's fact-checking decision. He said that Facebook should not be the arbiter of the truth of everything that people say online.
Facebook moderators sign letter protesting against Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to take action on Trump's threats
According to Gizmodo, Facebook continues to stand by its policy of allowing politicians to lie in ads by refusing to take any action against the President's post threatening violence against protesters. The letter released by the current and former Facebook moderators, in coordination with legal nonprofit Foxglove, stated the company's policies were undermined by the refusal of Zuckerberg to hold the president to the same standard as other Facebook users.
"We would also like to express our solidarity with Facebook workers organizing the virtual walkout and protesting against a lack of adequate action from Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook leadership after President Donald Trump posted a message threatening and inciting violence against Black Lives Matter demonstrators," wrote the Facebook moderators.
"We know how important Facebook's policies are because it's our job to enforce them," they added.
The moderators also said that Facebook prevents them from contributing to the public discussion about inevitable ethical challenges connected to the job by stopping them from voicing out their concerns. Non-disclosure agreements signed by the moderators as conditions of their employment prevent them from speaking openly about what they do and witness for most of their working hours said the company's moderators.
They also said that their status as contractors puts them at financial risk, making it impossible for them to engage in a coordinated walkout without risking their jobs.
