NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson told Cheddar he is "not surprised" a recent meeting between Facebook and civil rights organizations did not end as hoped.
The social media giant reached out as major advertisers pulled marketing campaigns, unhappy with the company's decision to allow hateful content and misinformation to live on the platform.
"Unfortunately we’re not surprised. After two years of discussion with Facebook, we’ve heard statements of value, we’ve heard statements of concern, and how we all agree. What we have not seen is action," Johnson stated.
The recent ad boycott began in the weeks after the police killing of George Floyd. As massive demonstrations took place across the county, Trump posted a message on Twitter and Facebook, warning, in part, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Twitter opted to issue a warning about the post, while Facebook decided to let it remain unaltered. Zuckerberg explained in a post that the company's "position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies."
"For Mark Zuckerberg or anyone else to suggest that hate speech is ok as long as it’s partisan, that’s asinine thinking," Johnson said.
Refusal to curb the spread of hate speech and misinformation on Facebook, Johnson said, threatens American governance.
"If we demean the civility of our discourse to say that if someone says something racialized, it’s ok, it’s partisan, that’s no way to run this democracy," he noted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing, underscoring China's continued support of Moscow amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
The Justice Department is appealing the prison sentence of the lengths of four Proud Boys leaders who were convicted in the January 6th Capitol attack.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett endorsed the idea that the court adopt a formal code of conduct.
The Supreme Court ruled it would allow the Biden administration to regulate so-called ghost guns, or those untraceable homemade weapons, and also barred two Texas-based manufacturers from selling products that can be turned into ghost guns.
The Commerce Department on Tuesday updated and broadened its export controls to stop China from acquiring advanced computer chips and the equipment to manufacture them.
And in a surprise move, President Joe Biden has joined former President Trump's Truth social platform.
The Supreme Court ruled it would allow the Biden administration to regulate so-called ghost guns, or those untraceable homemade weapons, and also barred two Texas-based manufacturers from selling products that can be turned into ghost guns.
Former President Donald Trump returned to a New York City courtroom Tuesday to watch the civil fraud trial that threatens to disrupt his real estate empire, renewing his claims that the case is a baseless and politically targeted distraction from his 2024 campaign.
Over 30 people were arrested outside of the White House Monday during a protest against the Israel-Hamas war.
President Joe Biden swept into wartime Israel for a 7 1/2-hour visit Wednesday that produced a heaping dose of vocal support and a deal to get limited humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt.
