NEW YORK: Facebook Inc said it would update its internal discussion policies to impose restrictions on employees’ ability to debate social and political issues.
A company spokesman said Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg outlined his plans for the curbs to employees, with details of the new rules to be announced next week.
“What we’ve heard from our employees is that they want the option to join debates on social and political issues rather than see them unexpectedly in their work feed,” spokesman Joe Osborne said in a statement.
“We’re updating our employee policies and work tools to ensure our culture remains respectful and inclusive.”
Osborne said the new rules would apply to employee discussions of how executives handle politically sensitive content on Facebook’s platforms, which was the subject of intense internal debates this summer.
He said Facebook aimed to ensure that debate of those decisions could still take place in “appropriate channels,” without clogging up other work-related discussions.
The company was also strengthening its harassment policy to keep conversation respectful and protect underrepresented employees, he said.–Agencies
