In the wake of harsh criticism of Facebook’s policies around violence and hate speech, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has committed to funding organizations fighting for racial justice.
“Facebook is committing an additional $10 million to groups working on racial justice,” Zuckerberg wrote in apost. “We’re working with our civil rights advisors and our employees to identify organizations locally and nationally that could most effectively use this right now.”
He went on to say, “I know that $10 million can’t fix this. It needs sustained, long-term effort,” and talked about how the foundation he runs with his wife Priscilla Chan, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has been “investing ~$40 million annually for several years in organizations working to overcome racial injustice.”
Critics have pointed out that, with a net worth of over $80 billion, Zuckerberg’s $10 million commitment represents around 0.01 percent of his current worth.
This commitment comes after a week in which Facebook has been criticized for not blocking President Trump’s post about protests in Minneapolis over the murder of George Floyd by police. A Trump tweet about the protests included the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” a post which Twitter hid forglorifying violence. But when Trump posted the same thing to Facebook, the company chosenot to block it.
Facebook has also chosen not to block, fact-check, or add a warning label to Trump posts which contain misinformation, with Zuckerberg saying that Facebook would not be “arbiters of truth.”
Senior figures within Facebook have expressed their disagreement with this stance, as reported byBloomberg. Andrew Crow, head of design for Facebook Portal,wrotethat, “Censoring information that might help people see the complete picture is wrong. But giving a platform to incite violence and spread disinformation is unacceptable, regardless who you are or if it’s newsworthy. I disagree with Mark’s position and will work to make change happen.”
