Facebook hit with complaint alleging widespread bias against Black workers

A Black Facebook worker on Thursday filed a complaint claiming the social media giant’s stated commitment to diversity and civil rights, including its support for the Black Lives Matter movement, masks widespread discrimination against Black workers.

Oscar Veneszee, a Washington DC-based operations program manager, said in a charge filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Facebook has shown a pattern of discrimination in hiring, performance evaluations, promotions and pay and that Black workers fill just 1.5% of its technical positions.

Recently, the clash between Twitter and Donald Trump has thrust rival Facebook into turmoil, with employees rebelling against CEO Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to sanction false or inflammatory posts by the US president.

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Some Facebook employees put out word of a "virtual walkout" to take place Monday to protest, according to tweeted messages.

"As allies, we must stand in the way of danger, not behind. I will be participating in today's virtual walkout in solidarity with the black community," tweeted Sara Zhang, one of the Facebook employees in the action.

Zuckerberg reacted by telling Fox News that private social media platforms "shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online." Trump retweeted the interview.

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Twitter responded once again to a Trump tweet, this time after he used the platform to warn protesters outraged by the death at police hands of an unarmed black man that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Twitter covered up the tweet with a message warning it "violated Twitter Rules about glorifying violence." Viewers had to click on the message to see the underlying tweet.

The message also was posted on Facebook, but Zuckerberg decided to let it stand unchallenged.