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Published 07:02 IST, June 6th 2020

Facebook to review content policies after Mark Zuckerberg criticised over Trump posts

Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would review a number of existing policies, based on feedback from employees, civil rights experts and subject matter experts

Reported by: Pritesh Kamath
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After facing backlash over US President Donald Trump's post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday announced that the social giant has decided to review its content policies. The social network had been criticised by its own employees for not moderating Trump's controversial posts where the US President had said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts", threatening protestors with military action against violent demonstrations over George Floyd's death. 

In his Facebook post, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would review a number of existing policies based on feedback from employees, civil rights experts and subject matter experts.

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With regards to content that violates Facebook policies, Zuckerberg said, "Facebook can either leave the content up or take it down and "not let people continue seeing it behind a flag".

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"I also respect a lot of the people who think there may be better alternatives, so I want to make sure we hear all those ideas. In general, I worry that this approach has a risk of leading us to editorialize on the content we don’t like even if it doesn’t violate our policies, so I think we need to proceed very carefully,” Zuckerberg added.

In light of the recent events concerning the racism which has sparked protest across the United States, Zuckerberg said Facebook will work on products that will advance racial justice. 

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"To members of our Black community: I stand with you. Your lives matter. Black lives matter," he said adding "We have so far to go to overcome racial injustice in America and around the world, and we all have a responsibility and opportunity to change that," said Zuckerberg.

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He also pledged to build a voter hub to provide users with “access to accurate and authoritative information about voting, as well as building tools to encourage people to register to vote and help them encourage their friends and communities to vote as well.”

Zuckerberg's post is as follows:

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07:02 IST, June 6th 2020