Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have said they are “disgusted” by President Donald Trump’s stance and statements regarding the ongoing protests against racial injustice. The Facebook and his wife this week shared their thoughts in an email to a group of scientists supported by their nonprofit, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). The scientists have recently raised concerns about how Facebook has handled Trump’s posts on platform . Zuckerberg and Chan said they are “deeply shocked and disgusted” by President Trump’s divisive and provocative rhetoric at a time when the nation so desperately needs unity. They also added that this is an extremely painful turning point in the history of their nation, especially for the “Black” community and for their “Black” colleagues who have been living with the effects of systemic racism for generations.
The email was provided to CNN Business by Jason Shepherd, a scientist supported by CZI, and first reported by Recode. The response comes days after more than 140 scientists funded and supported by CZI wrote an open letter to Zuckerberg urging him to consider tougher policies on misinformation and offensive language. In the letter, the scientists pointed to a particularly provocative post Trump shared on Facebook during the protests, which read: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” This is a clear statement of incitement to violence, the scientists said. They also pointed out that they, like many others, are unhappy to see that Facebook has not followed its own policies regarding President Trump, who has used the popular social media platform to spread misleading and provocative statements.
In an email to the scientists on Tuesday, Zuckerberg and Chan said the group’s letter had been shared and discussed by the entire team , adding that they took their concerns seriously. However, the couple had little input into the new action. They simply shared past posts Zuckerberg had made on Facebook, in which he defended the company’s stance and pledged to review its policies on content moderation, voter suppression and state use of force.
CZI declined to comment on Zuckerberg and Chan's response to the scientists. Zuckerberg's decision to keep Trump's posts up has drawn criticism from many employees at the company. Last week, some Facebook employees went on a virtual walkout over the inaction on the issue. In addition, one employee resigned from his job, telling CNN Business that he was concerned that Facebook would be used to further escalate violence in the United States. The pair also stressed that Facebook and CZI are completely separate and independent organizations, also underlining that they understand that CZI's relationship with Facebook is difficult to "bridge." Finally, they noted that Facebook's policies are not CZI's decisions as an organization.
