Published 09:47 IST, May 30th 2020
Mark Zuckerberg explains lack of action over Trump's post, cites National Guard reference
Zuckerberg said the post remained online since it also contained information regarding the US forces and was considered relevant information for the citizens
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Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday explained why the social networking website did not pull down US President Donald Trump's post that had a historical reference to the Civil Rights movement. In an elaborate post on Facebook, Zuckerberg said that the post remained online since it also contained information regarding the US Army and thus, was considered to be of relevant information to the citizens.
Zuckerberg tries to justify
Zuckerberg admitted that he did have a negative reaction to the post, which he considered 'divisive and inflammatory rhetoric.'
"We looked very closely at the post that discussed the protests in Minnesota to evaluate whether it violated our policies. Although the post had a troubling historical reference, we decided to leave it up because the National Guard references meant we read it as a warning about state action, and we think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force," explained the 36-year-old.
President Trump, responding to the violent protests that erupted in Minnesota and across the United States after the tragic death George Floyd, had said: "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
Trump borrowed a phrase once used by former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley in a 1967 speech outlining his department’s efforts to “combat young hoodlums who have taken advantage of the civil rights campaign.” In the speech, Headley said his department had been successful “because I’ve let the word filter down that when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
People have been reacting to a video that surfaced soon after Floyd's death, which showed that he was pinned to the ground and kneed by a white officer, Derek Chauvin, for several minutes before dying. During that period, he can be heard pleading "I can't breathe" several times.
Zuckerberg also mentioned how Facebook policies differ from that of Twitter and explaining the same, he stated: "Unlike Twitter, we do not have a policy of putting a warning in front of posts that may incite violence because 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." Twitter had added a warning label next to the tweet citing that it was 'glorifying violence' but had not taken it down.
Concluding his remarks on yet another row following the President's posts, Zuckerberg said, "People can agree or disagree on where we should draw the line, but I hope they understand our overall philosophy is that it is better to have this discussion out in the open, especially when the stakes are so high. I disagree strongly with how the President spoke about this, but I believe people should be able to see this for themselves, because ultimately accountability for those in positions of power can only happen when their speech is scrutinized out in the open."
Updated 09:47 IST, May 30th 2020