Facebook Says It Isn’t At Fault For Allowing Capitol Rioters To Organize

Facebook and other big tech companies are under intense fire this week for their role in allowing last week’s rioters at the U.S. Capitol to organize and spread their message. However, according to Facebook executives, the company actually took strong action to prevent the violence from occurring, and it was the fault of other platforms that don’t have Facebook’s “standards and transparency.”

“We know this was organized online,” Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said at a conference hosted by Reuters this week. “We took down QAnon, Proud Boys, Stop the Steal, anything that was talking about possible violence last week. Our enforcement is never perfect, so I’m sure there were still things on Facebook. I think these events were largely organized on platforms that don’t have our abilities to stop hate, and don’t have our standards, and don’t have our transparency.”

Despite Sandberg’s claims, many tech experts aren’t buying it. Early Instagram investor Chris Sacca blasted Facebook for its complicity in the violence, even calling for the platform to be shut down.

“You’ve got blood on your hands, Zuck,” Sacca tweeted. “For four years you’ve rationalized this terror. Inciting violent treason is not a free speech exercise. If you work at those companies, it’s on you too. Shut it down.”

Of course, even Sandberg admitted that Facebook’s enforcement didn’t catch everything. However, she may have overstated her case by bragging up her company’s actions




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