'Silence is complicity': Facebook workers speak out after Zuckerberg refuses to take action against Trump

"I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we’re showing up."
 By 
Stan Schroeder
 on 
'Silence is complicity': Facebook workers speak out after Zuckerberg refuses to take action against Trump
Some Facebook employees don't see eye to eye with Zuckerberg when it comes to Trump. Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty Images

As protests rage across the U.S., some Facebook workers are speaking out against their own employer.

On Sunday, Jason Toff, a director of product management at Facebook, voiced his disapproval of how Facebook handled recent posts by President Donald Trump.

Toff is referring to Facebook's decision not to take action against some of Trump's recent posts. Meanwhile, Twitter flagged a tweet from Trump for spreading misinformation about mail-in voting. It hid another, which said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," from Trump's timeline because it violated its rules on glorifying violence.


You May Also Like

While Twitter hid the tweet from immediate view, the post was fully visible on Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram. In an interview on Fox News, the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said he would not hide the post as "Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth" online. 

Toff is not the only Facebook employee who doesn't agree with Zuckerberg. Following his tweet, several other Facebook employees, including Software Engineer Lauren Tan, Head of Design for Portal Andrew Crow, and product R&D team lead Jason Stirman, voiced their disapproval, too.

Zuckerberg called Trump on Friday and expressed his concerns about the president's "tone and rhetoric," according to Axios. He reportedly told the president his words "put Facebook in a difficult position."

The feedback from some of Facebook's employees — who, tellingly, decided to voice their opinion on Twitter — indicates that phone chats with the president might not be enough for them.

Zuckerberg also posted on Sunday that Facebook has committed $10 million to groups working on racial justice. "It's clear Facebook also has more work to do to keep people safe and ensure our systems don't amplify bias," he wrote.

Stan Schroeder
Stan Schroeder
Senior Editor

Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You
Former Xbox President Sarah Bond breaks silence after surprise exit
Sarah Bond, president of Xbox at Microsoft Corp., during the Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, May 9, 2024

Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show: Will he call out ICE?
Bad Bunny performs onstage at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 17, 2025 in Hollywood, California

Stephen Colbert mocks Trump administration walking back allegations against ICE shooting victim
Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.'

Supreme Court denies case seeking copyrights for AI-generated art
The exterior of the US Supreme Court building.

Verizon breaks silence on massive outage. Here's what they said.
a person with an umbrella walks past a verizon store on a rainy day

More in Tech

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 4, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 4, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Google launches Gemma 4, a new open-source model: How to try it
Google Gemma
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!