Facebook has a black people problem: ex-employee

SAN FRANCISCO: A former Facebook employee released Tuesday a memo stating that the company did not include blacks in its workforce and on social networks.

Mark Luckie said he had shared the message with all Facebook employees around the world early this month, shortly before his last day as a strategic partner manager focused on voices underrepresented. "Facebook has a problem of black people," said Luckie, who is black, in the memo. "The removal of black voting rights on Facebook's platform reflects the marginalization of its black employees." The California social network has not responded to a request for comment.

Luckie portrayed blacks as one of the most engaged members of the public on the social network, while claiming that their efforts to create a safe haven for Facebook conversations were derailing.

Content was removed and accounts suspended after non-black people posted content that did not violate Facebook's policies as hate speech, according to Luckie. Black employees usually hear their colleagues say, "I did not know blacks were working at Facebook," he said.

He notes that black employees now account for 4% of Facebook's workforce, up from 2% in 2016. "In some buildings, there are more posters" Black life counts "than true blacks," he said. said Luckie.

In an email response to Reuters, a Facebook spokesman said the company was working to increase the diversity of its employees.