Facebook and Snapchat condemn racism in US as protests continue
Tech giants Facebook and Snapchat have joined a growing roster of companies to have condemned racism in the United States as protests over the death of George Floyd in police custody entered their sixth day.
Last week the unarmed Floyd was killed in Minneapolis when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes, despite Floyd saying he could not breathe.
In a post on the site, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: “We stand with the black community – and all those working towards justice in honor of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and far too many others whose names will not be forgotten”.
He added that the firm would give $10m to organisations working for racial justice.
Snapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel wrote in an internal memo: “I am heartbroken and enraged by the treatment of black people and people of colour in America.
“We must begin a process to ensure that America’s black community is heard throughout the country”.
Facebook and Snapchat have joined Neflix, Intel and Nike in voicing their concerns about the treatment of African-Americans in the US.
Zuckerberg has come under fire in recent days for allowing a tweet by President Donald Trump which seemed to encourage police to shoot protestors to remain on the website.
Twitter hid the tweet, which said “When looting starts, shooting starts”, behind a warning which said it “glorified violence”.
A number of Facebook employees publicly opposed Zuckerberg’s decision to leave the post online.
However, as the “leader of an institution committed to free expression,” Zuckerberg said that the post had not violated Facebook’s rules.
The 46-year-old Floyd’s death was filmed by an onlooker, with the resulting footage going viral on social media.
It was met with an outpouring of anger across the US over police brutality against African-Americans, which has led to protests in dozens of cities all over the country.
Fires have been started outside the White House, with troops being deployed in 15 states to counter the unrest which is growing increasingly violent.
Authorities have implemented curfews across dozens of US cities — the most since 1968 in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination.
President Donald Trump, who was last night taken to a secure bunker in the White House, has not issued a public statement, but has seemingly endorsed the violent response to the protests, which started as peaceful demonstrations.
In a string of tweets, he has labelled protestors as “thugs” and urged authorities across the country to “get tough” on protesters.