Facebook Moves to Censor Internal Debate as More Employees Quit in Protest

After a handful of employees quit so they could speak out about Facebook’s insufficient internal ‘woke’-ness, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finally decided how he’s going to handle what has been described as an internal rebellion.

The surge of anti-management sentiment within the company was likely provoked by accusations, spread by the mainstream press, about Facebook’s alleged role in spreading “Russian” disinformation to help sway the election to President Trump, a narrative that the New Yorker – a publication that’s almost revered by American intellectuals – quietly admitted was b***s*** just a few days ago.

After hyping the Russia threat for four years, the New Yorker quietly wonders if the story might have been exaggerated:https://t.co/j40JLJNGHD

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) September 16, 2020

Though Facebook has, like other social media companies, picked on conservatives, there’s little question that conservative voices are given more space on the company’s platform. That’s not wrong; it’s simply in keeping with American principles about freedom of the press.

Zuck showed surprising resoluteness in handling these accusations, until recently, when he finally caved, ordering a so ineffective-it’s-almost-humorous “ban” on new political ads during the final week of campaign season.

And now, the company has informed employees in a memo that was also promptly leaked to the press, that it has decided on a new strategy for handling internal dissent. Because while the US is governed by the Constitution, inside Facebook, Zuck calls the shots. And he’s decided that he will essentially silence all discussion about “sensitive” topics on the company’s internal messaging system, CNBC reports.

Ironically, Zuckerberg reportedly described these new rules, which will explicitly identify where conversations about certain topics can be held, as giving the company’s employees more freedom, not less. Facebook is couching this as giving employees “the option” of joining certain debates, rather than have them thrust into their feeds.

Even when these conversations are held, they will be “carefully monitored”.

“We deeply value expression and open discussion. What we’ve heard from our employees is that they want the option to join debates on social and political issues rather than see them unexpectedly in their work feed,” said Facebook Spokesman Joe Osborne to CNBC. “We’re updating our employee policies and work tools to ensure our culture remains respectful and inclusive.”

From now on, inside Facebook so-called “tense conversations” – as Zuckerberg himself described them – will simply not be held. Then, employees won’t have anything to get angry about.

Because that’s how we do things in contemporary America.

The news comes as Bloomberg’s Businessweek publishes a profile of Zuckerberg essentially lampooning him for Facebook’s alleged role in spreading “disinformation.”