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# Broadband Roundup: Zuckerberg Defends Trump Stance, Surveillance of Protests, Reddit and Racism
- URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/broadband-roundup-zuckerberg-defends-trump-stance-surveillance-of-protests-reddit-and-racism/
- Published: 2020-06-03T14:26:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-11T06:24:19.000Z
- Description: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended his decision to leave intact a post from President Donald Trump, which responded to widespread protests by saying that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” the New York Times reported. Zuckerberg’s decision comes after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey chose to
- Author: Elijah Labby
- Tags: antifa, #with-siderail, #roundup, Axios, Donald Trump, Ellen Pao, Facebook, Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, New York Times, Reddit, Steve Huffman, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-02-01 10:16, #added-preview-divider

Facebook CEO **Mark Zuckerberg** defended his decision to leave intact a post from President **Donald Trump**, which responded to widespread protests by saying that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” the New York Times [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/technology/zuckerberg-defends-facebook-trump-posts.html?campaign%5Fid=9&emc=edit%5Fnn%5F20200603&instance%5Fid=19041&nl=the-morning®i%5Fid=130864711&segment%5Fid=29949&te=1&user%5Fid=44ae301c6e4c3dea6320ba5b357f0e2c&ref=broadbandbreakfast.com).

Zuckerberg’s decision comes after Twitter CEO **Jack Dorsey** chose to disable post engagement when Trump tweeted the same message.

On Monday, Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout over concerns surrounding the president’s behavior and Zuckerberg’s decision, claiming that he had failed to act on a credible threat of violence.

However, in a tense Monday meeting, Zuckerberg defended his decision and said that he expressed his concerns to President Trump.

“I used that opportunity to make him know I felt this post was inflammatory and harmful, and let him know where we stood on it,” he said.

Since the controversial post, at least two Facebook software engineers have publicly quit, [citing](https://fortune.com/2020/06/02/two-facebook-employees-quit-over-handling-of-trump-posts/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) disagreement with Zuckerberg’s decision.

#### *Protest surveillance*

A slippery slope of high-tech surveillance may follow President Trump’s [decision](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267129644228247552?s=20&ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) to treat antifa protesters as domestic terrorists, Axios [reported](https://www.axios.com/protest-surveillance-trump-antifa-terrorist-designation-a6b59866-f31a-4f08-8e1a-a96a919b9ec6.html?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com).

Trump has laid dozens of reports of ruthless violence at antifa’s feet, but as antifa is a broad term for militant anti-fascism groups rather than a single unified organization, the designation may be challenging to enforce legally.

Furthermore, there currently exists no official federal designation for domestic terrorism organization.

Police across the country employ several tactics to determine the locations of criminals, including phone location data and facial [recognition](https://www.axios.com/report-full-list-of-clearview-ais-law-enforcement-clients-stolen-6de9225f-f403-4ab4-930f-50d074cc17b9.html?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) technology. While such technologies require warrants, it could be easy for officers to obtain them from a sympathetic judge.

The Trump administration has already ramped up [efforts](https://www.axios.com/doj-apple-encryption-iphone-pensacola-richard-burr-0ec16e13-029f-49e7-bcf8-1b9fc7388188.html?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) to surveil terrorists digitally, so it is not difficult to imagine a heightened interest in monitoring protestors in opposition to his policies.

#### *Former Reddit CEO condemns racism on the platform*

Former Reddit CEO **Ellen Pao** tweeted [criticism](https://twitter.com/ekp/status/1267689503797342208?s=20&ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) of what she called an amplification of some of the platform’s “hate, racism, and violence,” CNET [reported.](https://www.cnet.com/news/reddit-slammed-by-former-ceo-ellen-pao-for-amplifying-racism-and-hate-nfl-nba/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com)

The company tweeted an [open letter](https://redditblog.com/2020/06/01/remember-the-human-black-lives-matter/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) from CEO **Steve Huffman** to his employees, which said that “while we have work to do to fight \[racism\] on our platform, our values are clear.”

However, Pao said that the website’s policies toward discrimination and violence are insufficient and applied inconsistently.

“You don’t get to say BLM when Reddit nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hate all day long,” she said.

Pao also referred to r/The\_Donald, a Reddit forum for Trump supporters. Repeated incidents of racist and antisemitic [content](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/09/06/racism-anti-semitism-surged-corners-web-after-trumps-election/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) have made the page one of the site’s most controversial, and although Reddit blocked the forum from appearing on the platform’s front page, Pao said they still have work to do.

“You should have shut down the\_donald…. So much of what is happening now lies at your feet,” she said.