Zuckerberg on Facebook tells employees to respect diverse opinions
Zuckerberg on Facebook tells employees to respect diverse opinions
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told a room full of employees on Friday that the company should adopt a variety of opinions, but expressed frustration at the fact that a senior executive has attended the highly politicized hearing of Judge Brett Kavanaugh Last week, according to a person familiar with the comments.
Mr. Zuckerberg spoke at a city hall called to confront the outrage among many employees that Facebook's public policy chief, Joel Kaplan, appeared at the hearing in support of his longtime friend, Judge Kavanaugh, who had been accused. of sexual assault.
In the week since the hearing, hundreds of Facebook employees complained in the internal message boards that Mr. Kaplan's appearance in the audience came at a time when Facebook officials warned employees to avoid them. open political comments.
Other employees, particularly women, said Mr. Kaplan's appearance sent the wrong message to employees about how executives see the broader debate about sexual assault and women in the workplace.
Republicans have caught up with Democrats in voter enthusiasm according to a new Marist / NPR poll. Gerald F. Seib of WSJ explains how Kavanaugh's fight could be closing the gap. Stock Photo: Getty
More than 600 employees attended the city hall on Friday, and many more were contacted from offices around the world, the person said. Some Facebook employees shared their experiences as survivors of sexual assault, and the mood was often intense.
In his comments, Mr. Zuckerberg and Operations Director Sheryl Sandberg said it was important that Facebook is a place where the diverse political and social opinions are not tolerated, but rather backed by them. They also condemned sexual assault of any kind, said the person familiar with the comments.
However, the two executives also expressed frustration over the fact that Kaplan had injected Facebook, which has been subjected to intense scrutiny by regulators around the world for its power to shape public discourse, in a political controversy. unrelated, depending on the person. Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg pointed out that it was particularly problematic given their high profile within the company as their global policy chief.
Mr. Kaplan, who previously apologized to his colleagues for causing an internal controversy without realizing it, also spoke briefly on Friday through a video conference from Washington, DC, and noted that loyalty to friends like Judge Kavanaugh is one of its fundamental values, said the person.
When asked if he had regretted leaving, Mr. Kaplan said it was critical to defend his friends and could not say if he would have done things differently. Instead, he said he regretted not having informed Ms. Sandberg and other high-level officials about his plans, said the person familiar with the meeting.
The appearance of Mr. Kaplan last week sparked a heated internal discussion within the company that has generated hundreds of comments from employees and has become a test of how company executives felt about the #MeToo movement, the Trump era policy and freedom of expression and expression, people familiar with the matter let's say. The controversy comes at a time of greater uncertainty among Facebook employees, where morale is unstable after two years of controversy, according to current and former employees.
In the internal threads about Mr. Kaplan's decision, employees questioned why a top executive would risk causing more controversy on Facebook, which has been criticized for a host of problems, including misinformation, foreign manipulation and the violent content. Some asked why Mr. Kaplan had not been fired.
Ms. Sandberg has previously posted an internal message calling Mr. Kaplan's appearance at the hearing "an error".
Other senior executives, including Andrew Bosworth, and their employees questioned why Facebook employees spent so much time debating issues beyond their control, such as the Supreme Court nomination process. Mr. Bosworth and other employees argued that they should focus more on internal problems, including the consequences of the massive security breach revealed last week, said people familiar with the internal discussions.
Shortly after the Facebook town hall ended, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said in a speech that she would vote in favor of Judge Kavanaugh. His decision ensured that Judge Kavanaugh had the necessary support to be confirmed this weekend.
Write to Deepa Seetharaman in Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com
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