More than 250 Facebook employees have joined in a petition to Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg and requested to change the company’s policy on political advertising which allows all the politicians to post false ads on the social media platform.
However, recent comments made by Zuckerberg where he was looking hesitant to ban false political ads on Facebook before the 2020 Presidential election in the US.
The letter which was accessed by the New York Times reporter read, “Free speech and paid speech are not the same things. Misinformation affects all of us. Our current policies on fact-checking people in political office, or those running for office, are a threat to what FB stands for. We strongly object to this policy as it stands. It doesn’t protect voices, but instead allows politicians to weaponize our platform by targeting people who believe that content posted by political figures is trustworthy.”
The letter came into the limelight after Facebook has decided to give full liberty to the politicians to give advertisements which ceased the earlier rule of banning the political ads.
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg’s decision has made the things worst among the employees. The decision didn’t go well with many as well as among the Democrats who had earlier opposed the decision citing that it will impact the 2020 general elections in the States.
Earlier this week, Alexandria Ocasio, Congresswoman, asked CEO Zuckerberg why he didn’t take any action during a heated conversation with him. On the other hand, Facebook defended their move saying that other tech companies have also chosen to keep the advertisement on their platforms.
“In a democracy, people should decide what is credible, not tech companies,” a spokesperson for the company shared in a statement to the Associated Press. “That’s why – like other internet platforms and broadcasters – we don’t fact check ads from politicians.”
