Why Facebook Shut Down Pro-Trump Employee Group

FACEBOOK HAS DECIDED TO DO AWAY WITH AN ANONYMOUS FORUM THAT
ITS EMPLOYEES WERE USING AFTER SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS
AND DEBATES THAT TOOK PLACE IN THAT ANONYMOUS FORUM BECAME
RACIAL, SEXIST, OR OFFENSIVE.
FB ANON WAS BUILT BY FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES AS A SIDE PROJECT A
COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.
AGAIN, THE EMPHASIS HERE IS THAT IT WAS FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES
USING THIS FORUM ANONYMOUSLY IN ORDER TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF
THE MORE CONTROVERSIAL THINGS THAT WERE GOING ON.
FACEBOOK
RESPONDED AND SAID THE NOTION THAT THEY LOWERED
STANDARD FOR WOMEN WAS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS, AND
APPARENTLY THINGS JUST GOT SO HOSTILE THERE THAT IT WAS
CREATING AN UNCOMFORTABLE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND THEY DECIDED TO
DO AWAY WITH IT AND THEN ONE OF THE EXECUTIVES AT FACEBOOK MADE
A REALLY GOOD POINT ABOUT HOW ANYONE WHO USES THE SOCIAL
NETWORKING SITE IS FORCED TO USE THEIR REAL IDENTITY AND SO WHY
IS IT IN THIS CASE THE EMPLOYEES DIDN'T HAVE TO ABIDE BY THE
SAME RULES?
LET ME GIVE YOU LORI GOLER'S FULL COMMENT.
WELL, THIS ONE IS A LITTLE COMPLICATED BECAUSE I KNOW WHY
THEY DIDN'T USE THEIR REAL IDENTITY, BECAUSE LOOK AT THE
GUY AT GOOGLE WHO USES REAL IDENTITY GOT FIRED.
LET'S NOT BE DISINGENUOUS ABOUT WHY THEY HIRE HIDE THEIR
IDENTITY.
ON THE OTHER HAND IS A VIOLATION OF THEIR TERMS OF SERVICE AND
THAT IS ONE THING THAT IS KEPT FACEBOOK A LITTLE MORE SANE THAN
OTHER OUTLETS LIKE TWITTER BECAUSE YOU ARE ACTUALLY
CONNECTED TO WHO YOU ARE SO THAT BRINGS DOWN THE LEVEL OF
TROLLING NOT COMPLETELY BUT SPENT SIGNIFICANTLY WHEREAS WHEN
YOU ARE NOT AMISS, APPARENTLY LORD OF THE FLIES SETS IN AND
YOU START SMASHING CONSCIOUS OVER PEOPLE'S HEAD.
SOMETIMES LITERALLY, PHYSICALLY AND THE REAL WORLD BUT
CERTAINLY IN TERMS OF COMMENTS ONLINE.
SECONDARILY, I THINK THERE SHOULD BE A FORUM TO HAVE A
RATIONAL CONVERSATION.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS WHAT WAS HAPPENING THERE, ABOUT
GENDER DIFFERENCES AND DISPARITIES IN PAY AND HOW
TO RESOLVE THAT AND I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY WERE LOOKING TO
RESOLVE THAT, BUT I THINK THAT A CONVERSATION COULD BE
HELPFUL THERE IF DIRECTED IN THE RIGHT WAY.
ON THE OTHER HAND, IF IT IS NOT DIRECTED IN THE RIGHT WAY
AND YOU JUST HAVE A BUNCH OF PEOPLE SCREAMING ABOUT HOW
WOMEN ARE INFERIOR, I CAN SEE HOW THAT CAN CREATE A
HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT SO THESE ARE NOT EASY ISSUES.
A FEW OBSERVATIONS THAT I MADE WHILE RESEARCHING THE STORY.
WHAT I FOUND INTERESTING WAS THAT THIS WAS A FORUM THAT WAS
DEVELOPED BY FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND THEY NEVER
HAD A PROBLEM WITH A OR AT LEAST IT WASN'T REPORTED THAT ANYONE
HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE INTEL THE 2016 GENERAL ELECTION WHEN TRUMP
BECAME A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION AND THAT WAS WHEN PEOPLE STARTED TO
FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE COMING OUT AND TALKING ABOUT GENDER IN THE
WORKPLACE AND THEIR FEELINGS TOWARD THAT AND LOWERING THE
STANDARDS TO ACCOMMODATE WOMEN AND SO IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH OF
AN IMPACT THAT ELECTION REALLY HAD NOT JUST IN OUR NATIONAL
DISCOURSE BUT DISCOURSE AMONG EMPLOYEES AT VARIOUS COMPANIES.
THE SECOND THING IS, YOU CAN DO AWAY WITH THESE FORMS ALL
YOU WANT.
YOU CAN FIRE PEOPLE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT BUT THIS IS AN
ISSUE THAT PERSISTS AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK
NEEDS AN OPEN DIALOGUE SO I AGREE WITH YOU WHERE YOU
SAY THERE NEEDS TO BE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS.
I AM NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHAT THE RIGHT WAY TO GO ABOUT IT IS
AND LOOK, PEOPLE DO LIKE TO HIDE BEHIND ANONYMITY AND IN
THIS CASE, I GUESS FOR GOOD REASONS BECAUSE THEY WILL
GET FIRED IF THEY ARE CREATING A HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
BUT JUST BECAUSE YOU DID AWAY WITH THIS CHAT OR THIS FORUM
DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOUR EMPLOYEES DON'T STILL FEEL THESE THINGS.
YEAH, THAT'S WHY THINK THE SECOND ISSUE HERE AND WHY
IT IS SO DIFFICULT IS THAT SOME PEOPLE SUPPORT TRUMP AND
THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DO IT IS AMERICA.
ON THE OTHER HAND, TRUMP IS CLEARLY RACIST AND A BIGOT
AND SEXIST IN A SEXUAL HARASSER AND A PERSON WHO HAS
COMMITTED OR ADMITTED TO COMMITTING SEXUAL ASSAULT.
THOSE FACTS MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT THEY ARE
FACTS NONETHELESS SO YOU SAY IS MY OPINION.
IT'S NOT MY OPINION.
HE SAYS EVERY DAY.
HE COMPARES PEOPLE WHO ARE AGAINST FASCISTS TO THE
PEOPLE WHO ARE FASCISTS AND I CAN GO ON AND ON AND GIVE
YOU DOZENS OF EXAMPLES.
WHAT YOU DO WHEN SOME PERCENTAGE OF THE COUNTRY AND SOME
PERCENTAGE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES LIKE A GUY WHO IS A RACIST?
AND IN THIS CASE SEXIST.
IT'S A REALLY HARD QUESTION.
YOU GET TO BELIEVE THOSE THINGS IN AMERICA.
I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU CAN FIRE A THIRD OF THE COUNTRY BUT AT THE
SAME TIME, THOSE ARE UNSETTLING ESPECIALLY IN A WORK ENVIRONMENT
WHERE WE HAVE TO RESPECT EACH OTHER AND WORK AS A TEAM.
THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS HERE, AND ALL OF THE COMPANIES
ARE TRYING TO DO THEIR BEST TO FIGURE OUT THE RIGHT
ANSWERS

Why Facebook Shut Down Pro-Trump Employee Group

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