Facebook employees tried to delete Donald Trump posts due to ‘hate speech’
Mark Zuckerberg says it would be inappropriate to take comments down, according to sources
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump's statements about immigration on Facebook were labelled as hate speech by employees of the social network, who called for them to be taken down, according to a new report.
Sources told The Wall Street Journal that those reviewing content on the website argued for the comments to be taken down.
But according to the report they were asked not to remove the posts, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees it would be inappropriate to take them down.
The property tycoon's posts were first noticed by the network after he included a link to a December campaign statement entitled: “On preventing Muslim immigration.”
The statement called “for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.” It cited research saying that large segments of the Muslim population showed “great hatred towards Americans”.
Users flagged the post as hate speech, prompting discussion among employees online, many of whom pushed for his comments to be deleted. But managers said they should not be.
In response to the report, a Facebook spokeswoman said its reviewers considered the context of the post when assessing whether to take it down. “That context can include the value of political discourse,” she said. “Many people are voicing opinions about this particular content and it has become an important part of the conversation around who the next US president will be.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments