Facebook will review policies related to speech promoting state force, says Zuckerberg

Facebook is going to review its policies on discussions and threats of use of state force, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Saturday.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Zuckerberg detailed his approach towards reviewing new policies for free speech and allowing discussions and threats that promote the use of state force.

“We're going to review our policies allowing discussion and threats of state use of force to see if there are any amendments we should adopt,” the Facebook CEO said.

“The first is around instances of excessive use of police or state force. Given the sensitive history in the US, this deserves special consideration. The second case is around when a country has ongoing civil unrest or violent conflicts,” he further said.

Zuckerberg has drawn flak recently for allowing certain posts of the US President Donald Trump to remain on the platform that allegedly promoted state violence. A similar post on Twitter had been flagged by the micro-blogging platform. The post in question was related to recent protests across the country especially in Minneapolis owing to the death of a black man George Floyd, who died in police custody after a policeman had knelt on his neck for several minutes.

Zuckerberg, however, had allowed the posts to remain on the platform citing free speech as one of the reasons. This had led to employees openly expressing their disappointment, while many conducting a virtual walkout earlier this week, as per reports.

“I also want to acknowledge that the decision I made last week has left many of you angry, disappointed and hurt. So I am especially grateful that, despite your heartfelt disagreement, you remain focused on taking positive steps to move forward,” Zuckerberg wrote in the post.

“While we will continue to stand for giving everyone a voice and erring on the side of free expression in these difficult decisions -- even when it's speech we strongly and viscerally disagree with -- I'm committed to making sure we also fight for voter engagement and racial justice too,” he said.

Civil rights

The company will review various policies related to civil rights and voter engagement in a run-up to the US elections.

“Based on feedback from employees, civil rights experts and subject matter experts internally, we're exploring the following areas, which fit into three categories: ideas related to specific policies, ideas related to decision-making, and proactive initiatives to advance racial justice and voter engagement,” he said.

Another issue that the social media giant will focus on is voter suppression. The company is building a voter hub as part of its get-out-the-vote efforts.

It will also work on “establishing a clearer and more transparent decision-making process,” Zuckerberg said.

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