An employee at Meta Platforms Inc. META has accused the company of putting her under investigation after she allegedly complained about the “censorship” of pro-Palestinian content, igniting a public dispute.
Public Outcry
A data scientist at Meta’s New York office publicly voiced her concerns in an Instagram video, saying that she has rallied support from 450 colleagues for a letter urging management to recognize the loss of Palestinian lives and provide support for Palestinian colleagues in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The letter also allegedly demanded “transparent action for internal and external censorship” across Meta’s platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, reported Financial Times.
Now the staffer has said that Meta promptly removed the letter from its internal forum and revoked her access to its systems, citing its non-political workplace policies.
Company Response
While Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, refrained from commenting saying that it is a “personnel matter,” he reiterated the company’s dedication to fostering a respectful and inclusive work environment, the report noted.
“Last year we updated our employee expectations to provide direction around what is appropriate for our people in the workplace, so that we can reduce distractions while maintaining an environment that is respectful and inclusive and where people can do their best work,” Stone said, adding, “We’re doing this to ensure that internal discussions remain healthy and productive. This comes with the trade-off that we’ll no longer allow for every type of expression at work, but we think this is the right thing to do for the long-term health of our internal community.”
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Context
This incident comes amidst Meta’s ongoing struggle with moderating contentious content and allegations of systematic censorship of Palestinian content.
Last year in October, Instagram apologized for a translation error that incorrectly tagged certain Palestinian user profiles as “terrorist.” Later in December, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, seeking transparency on the company’s content moderation practices surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
This reported investigation of a Meta employee adds another layer to the ongoing debate about content moderation and free speech within the social media giant.
Meta Photo by rafapress on Shutterstock
