Facebook fires his employee who protested against Trump posts. It is said that the employee had criticized Zuckerberg’s decision to not take action against inflammatory posts by US President Donald Trump.
Brandon Dail, a interface engineer in Seattle, wrote on Twitter that he was dismissed for publicly scolding a colleague who had refused to include a handout of support for the Black Lives Matter movement on developer documents he was publishing.
Dail sent the tweet each day after joining dozens of employees, including the six other engineers on his team, during a bandoning their desks and tweeting objections to Zuckerberg’s handling of Trump’s posts during a rare protest at the social media company.
“Intentionally not making a handout is already political,” Dail wrote within the tweet, sent on June 2. He said on Friday that he stood by what he wrote.
Facebook confirmed Dail’s characterization of his dismissal, but declined to provide additional information. the company said during the walkout that participating employees wouldn’t face retaliation.
Dail didn’t answer a involve participation for comment.
Trump’s posts which prompted the staff outcry included the racially charged phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” in reference to demonstrations against racism and police brutality held after the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.
Twitter affixed a warning label to the same post, saying it glorified violence. Facebook opted to travel away the post untouched.
Zuckerberg defended his decision at a tense all-hands meeting with employees that week. During the meeting, Dail tweeted that it had been “crystal clear today that leadership refuses to face with us.”
Dail again voiced objections within the week after both Facebook and Twitter declined to wish action against a Trump post that contained an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory about Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old protester who was critically injured by police in Buffalo, New York.
“Trump’s attack on Martin Gugino is despicable and a transparent violation Facebook’s anti-harassment rules. It’s again extremely disappointing that we (and Twitter) haven’t removed it,” he said.
Internal dissent is typically encouraged at Silicon Valley tech giants, but the companies are accused of penalizing workers who organise and air complaints publicly.
Alphabet’s Google fired a minimum of 5 workplace activists late last year, while Amazon dismissed critics of its warehouse conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Both companies denied firing employees for speaking out.
