Facebook is dealing with so many controversies here in the U.S. it can be easy to forget the company’s troubles abroad. One such issue is a South African whistleblower who was fired after leading a unionization effort for better pay and working conditions. The whistleblower, Daniel Motaung, is now taking the social media giant to court, where a lawyer for Facebook shockingly asked the judge to “crack the whip” in order to prevent Motaung from speaking to the media.

It’s rare for the company to try to silence a whistleblower so openly. Frances Haugen, the famous Facebook whistleblower from last year, said she didn’t have to deal with anything similar to what Motaung is going through, causing some experts and advocates to accuse the company of racism.

“Treating Black people as second-class digital citizens and high-exploitation employees is a pattern for Facebook, and their selective silencing of a Black whistleblower proves that only regulation will bring them in line with 21st century labor standards,” U.S.-based civil rights advocate Rashad Robinson told TIME. “We have fought too long to be silenced by any whip that Facebook selectively enforces against Black people, whether users on its platform, users of its ad services or employees of its subcontractors. We need regulation now.”

No matter what Facebook’s true intentions are, there’s no doubt that it’s a bad look to use this kind of language while taking such an aggressive stance toward a former employee.

Recommended Resources

Choose what the experts use: award-winning cybersecurity you can trust and rely on.

Surf the web truly incognito. Try Bitdefender Premium VPN, the ultra-fast VPN that keeps your online identity and activities safe from hackers, ISPs and snoops.

System Mechanic 14 – Make your computer run like new. Winner of 200+ Editor’s Choice awards!