WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Facebook's Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has defended his decision not to moderate recent controversial posts by U.S. President Donald Trump on the social media platform, according to reports.
Zuckerberg reportedly told employees during a company-wide meeting on Tuesday that he and other members of Facebook's policy team could not justify saying that Trump's messages clearly incited violence and therefore, did not violate Facebook's community standards.
In contrast, Twitter had flagged and hidden Trump's tweet from his profile, saying his remarks referring to protests over the death of Floyd violated rules about glorifying violence. The company has prevented users from liking or retweeting Trump's tweet.
Facebook employees, critical of their own company, had praised Twitter for its response to the message from Trump.
Hundreds of Facebook employees staged a 'virtual walkout' on Monday to protest the company's decision not to act on the posts by Trump.
In a post last Thursday, Trump said, 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts.' Trump's controversial comments were posted on both Facebook and Twitter.
Trump had posted the message following violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody.
Floyd died on Memorial Day after he was pinned down by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Floyd's death has sparked outrage and protests in Minneapolis and across the U.S.
In addition to Facebook's employees, civil rights leaders and one of Facebook's partners also have criticized its decision not to moderate Trump's posts.
Civil rights leaders who attended a video conference with Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said they were disappointed and stunned by Zuckerberg's 'incomprehensible explanations' for allowing Trump's posts to stay up.
Talkspace, a company that provides online therapy, said it has discontinued its partnership discussions with Facebook and will not support a platform that incites violence, racism and lies.
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