After a Facebook employee criticized the company's largely liberal workplace culture last week, an internal discussion group has formed to serve as a podium for political ideologies that may run counter to the those generally promoted at the social media giant, according to The New York Times.
More than 100 Facebook employees have joined the online group, called FB'ers for Political Diversity, since a post titled "We Have a Problem With Political Diversity" was posted on Facebook's internal message board last week, the Times reported.
"We are a political monoculture that's intolerant of different views," Brian Amerige, a senior Facebook engineer, wrote in the post, The Times reported. "We claim to welcome all perspectives, but are quick to attack — often in mobs — anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology."
The goal of the group is to create a space for ideological diversity within the company, but its posts have offended minorities, a source told the newspaper.
Facebook says fostering diversity in political thought inside the company is a crucial component to how the company operates.
"On Day 1 of Facebook's new hire orientation in Menlo Park, everyone hears from our Chief Diversity Officer about the importance of diversity and how to have respectful conversations with people who have different viewpoints," Facebook spokesman Bertie Thomson said in a statement.
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The group's formation comes as some conservatives are already suspicious of Silicon Valley, accusing companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter of liberal bias and suppression of conservative voices. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump accused Google of doctoring its search results for "Trump News" to show only negative coverage about him — a charge Google denied.
"Google and Twitter and Facebook, they're really treading on very, very troubled territory, and they have to be careful," Trump said later in the Oval Office.
Facebook has drawn flak before for the perception it reflects a liberal bias. During congressional hearings in April, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced questions about whether the social network was curbing conservative points of view, especially as personified by the media personalities Diamond and Silk.
The company has also had a difficult relationship with conservatives voices in leadership positions. Last year, Palmer Luckey, the found of Facebook VR giant Oculus, was forced out of the company after his involvement with an anti-Hillary Clinton smear group was discovered. Billionaire venture capitalist and Trump supporter Peter Thiel has reportedly considered resigning from Facebook's board of directors because of political tensions between him and another Facebook director.
Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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