Dozens of American researchers and university professors have asked Facebook to not allow US President Donald Trump to use its platform to spread what they called misinformation and inflammatory information, while Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowed to review content policies.
Researchers - more than 60 of whom work for leading US institutions - said in a letter to Zuckerberg that Facebook should consider stricter policies on misinformation and inflammatory language, especially during the current wave of protests emerging in American cities to condemn the death of George Florid by a policeman. In the city of Minneapolis.
The letter specifically referred to a previous post by President Trump commenting on the unrest in Minneapolis, in which he said, "When looting begins, shooting begins," and researchers considered this post a violation of Facebook standards.
Zuckerberg's remarks
The Facebook CEO said on Friday that he would consider making policy changes that led to the company leaving controversial posts for President Trump during the recent protests over the killing of George Floyd.
Zuckerberg, in a post on his Facebook page, said that policies that allow discussions and threats to use the state of force will be reviewed to see if there are any adjustments that should be made.
Mark # Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, defended leaving Trump's tweet, saying he disagreed with what he said, but people have the right to see it for themselves.
The Facebook CEO has expressed his solidarity with the right of black citizens in the United States to freely live in dignity and peace # America # George_Floyd #Trump https://t.co/OKnnDg3XaF
- wahid boussiouf .✍ (@wahidbouciouf) June 3, 2020
A number of Facebook employees had resigned a few days ago, and some said that Zuckerberg continued to create excuses for not challenging Trump.
The Facebook policy requires that the post be left or deleted, and Zuckerberg said he is studying to consider other options, but he added, "I am afraid that this method includes what makes us edit the content that we do not like, even if it does not violate our policies."
Associations criticize,
and officials of American civil rights groups last week criticized Facebook's founder for failing to soften Trump's messages in dealing with protests against racism and police violence against demonstrators.
"We are disappointed and surprised by Mark's incomprehensible justifications for the decision to preserve Trump's words," said Vanita Gupta, Sherilyn Avil and Rashad Robinson, who heads the three main civil rights organizations in the United States.
The three officials reacted after a phone conversation they had last Monday with Zuckerberg and the company’s second official, Sherrill Sandberg.
Trump signed an executive order aimed at curbing the legal immunity enjoyed by social media because of the censorship it exercised on the content it publishes, after Twitter set an alert following Trump's tweet regarding the unrest in Minneapolis stating that the site disclaims responsibility for the tweet that he said It violates its rules.
"These rabbleers distort the memory of George Floyd, and I will not allow this to happen," Trump wrote in one of his tweets.