Facebook Has Tons of Internal Groups. One Is Attracting Notice

The New York Times sees it as "a rare sign of organized dissent within Facebook": an online internal group linked to a memo posted internally by a senior engineer titled "We Have a Problem With Political Diversity." In the Aug. 20 message, Brian Amerige describes the company as "a political monoculture that's intolerant of different views" and "quick to attack—often in mobs—anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology" despite Facebook's claims to be inclusive. The Times reports the post was tied to the creation of the online group—"one of tens of thousands at the company"—FB'ers for Political Diversity, and that more than 100 employees have come aboard.

Amerige's suggestion is that the group be a home for debate, an antidote to the current reality where "you can either keep quiet [on topics like diversity or immigration] or sacrifice your reputation and career." He bemoans a situation that "has gotten exponentially worse in the last 2" years (he's been there since 2012), and he moves to support that with recent examples, "We tear down posters welcoming Trump supporters. We regularly propose removing Thiel from our board because he supported Trump. ... We have made 'All Lives Matter' a fireable offense." The Times spoke with one unnamed employee who said some people have complained about the group, only to be told it was operating within Facebook guidelines. (More Facebook stories.)