Facebook is pledging $10 million to fight racial injustice.
In a post late Sunday night, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the financial commitment and wrote that the company is “working with our civil rights advisors and our employees to identify organizations locally and nationally that could most effectively use [the funding] right now.”
Following in the footsteps of several entertainment and media companies, Facebook-owned Instagram also reaffirmed its anti-racism stance and its commitment to raise black voices on its platform by promoting the #ShareBlackStories hashtag.
The announcement comes as the social media giant continues to face a storm of criticism over its handling of President Donald Trump’s incendiary posts related to nationwide protests against police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd.
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On Sunday, Axios reported that Zuckerberg spoke to Trump on the phone about the president’s now-infamous tweet threatening protestors in Minneapolis with action from the military as well as using the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” a line that was used by segregationists in the 1960s. On the call, Zuckerberg reportedly “expressed concerns about the tone and rhetoric” the president was using in his social media posts about the nationwide protests against police brutality and outlined how Trump’s comments were putting the social media giant in a difficult position.
Twitter slapped a warning label and hid the president’s tweet on the basis that it was glorifying violence. Facebook said the president’s post did not violate its policies, although Zuckerberg, in a post, admitted that it included a “troubling historical reference.”
