Hundreds of Facebook Employees Decry Zuckerbergs Free Speech Stance in Letter

Facebook employees published an internal letter several weeks ago that criticizes CEO Mark Zuckerbergs decision to allow politicians and other public officials to purchase ads that include false information.

Our current policies on fact checking people in political office, or those running for office, are a threat to what FB stands for.

It doesnt protect voices, but instead allows politicians to weaponize our platform by targeting people who believe that content posted by political figures is trustworthy.

The New York Times first reported Monday on the letter, which has circulated on Facebook Workplace, an internal company messaging platform, and has accrued over 250 signatures.

In recent weeks, Zuckerberg has mounted a public defense of adherence to free speech principles in response to the criticism that the platform should take a more pro-active role in censoring political disinformation.

The letter proposes a number of improvements to the current policy, including holding political ads to the same criteria as standard ads while highlighting the difference between the two, restricting targeting by political ads, and spending caps for individuals who publish political ads.

Original article
Author: Tobias Hoonhout

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