Facebook fires one of its most critical employees towards the social media attitude about Donald Trump’s posts about protests for George Floyd.
Brandon Dail was kicked out for arguing with a colleague whom he had unsuccessfully asked to add the #BlackLivesMatter banner to a project they were working on together. Faced with the refusal, Dail criticized his colleague on Twitter, thus pushing Facebook to torpedo. Social media confirmed the reconstruction without giving further details. «I was kicked out for criticizing an employee’s failure to act on Twitter. I am convinced of what I have done, “tweeted Dail who, in controversy with his former employer, explained that his criticism” violated Facebook’s respectful policies. I’m not saying I was unfairly fired. But I was fed up with Facebook, the damage it is doing and the silence of those who make themselves accomplices (including me) ».
Triggering the wrath of Dail, and many other Facebook employees, was Trump’s May 29 post in which the president described the protesters in Minneapolis, the city where Floyd was killed, as “criminals.” A post branded by Twitter as’ incitement to violence, while Facebook has not intervened, by decision of Mark Zuckerberg.
The controversies were immediate, both within society and outside. «Disappointed to say this: Trump’s incitement to violence on Facebook is disgusting and should be reported and removed from our platforms. I categorically disagree with any policy that claims otherwise, “Dail tweeted after Zuckerberg’s explanations. On June 1st, hundreds of Facebook employees, including Dail, crossed their arms and left their workstations to express their opposition to Facebook’s inaction. However, the increasingly heated controversies prompted Zuckerberg to start a review of corporate policies. And maybe even to summarize Chris Cox as chief product officer at one year of his farewell. Before its release, Cox - nicknamed by some ‘Facebook conscience’ - had put the fight against controversial content and disinformation at the top of the agenda. Several managers of the company at the time had shrugged. Now they will probably have to retrace their steps.
