Zuckerberg and His Right Hand Clash Over Donald Trump

 

Two of Facebook's strongest men, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, reportedly clashed over differing views on how to handle political content, especially during Donald Trump's administration.

This is revealed from an excerpt of the book 'An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination' written by Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frankel. The book gathers testimony from former and current Facebook employees at all levels of the business.

In excerpts of the book published in the New York Times, both authors claim that the relationship between Zuckerberg and Sandberg began to change. Whereas when in public they still look close and professional, even still often meet twice a week.

Zuckerberg is said to have aligned with Sandberg's views compared to when he first hired Sandberg 13 years ago. Zuckerberg has also frequently criticized the way Sandberg handled communications related to foreign interference in the United States Election and Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook spokeswoman Dani Lever immediately denied the claims written in the book. Lever said the book's authors created false narratives based on selective interviews, picky facts, and comments from disgruntled employees.

"The rift described by the author between Mark and Sheryl and the people they work with does not exist," Lever said, as quoted from Cnet, Friday (07/09/2021).

"All of Mark's direct subordinates work closely with Sheryl, as do Sheryl's subordinates with Mark. Sheryl's role in the company has not changed. This quote is a typical attack on female leaders -- denying their power, ignoring their competence, and marginalizing their roles and relationships," she continued.

The book tells how Sandberg initially worked as Zuckerberg's right-hand man to take care of political affairs because he used to have experience in Washington.

But when Donald Trump became US president in 2016, Zuckerberg began to disagree with Sandberg's disapproval of Trump. Zuckerberg is becoming more and more likely to make his own political decisions.

A Facebook spokesman denied claims that Sandberg's involvement in the company's policy dealings was diminishing. "Mark and Sheryl have spent more time on policy matters -- including hiring more senior members, including Nick Clegg who reports to Sheryl," Lever said.

One of the incidents that strained the two's relationship was when a video of U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi being manipulated went viral on Facebook. Zuckerberg decided to leave the video on Facebook, but Sandberg argued the video should be removed for violating disinformation rules.

The book's author claims this exacerbates the relationship between Zuckerberg and Sandberg, especially as Sandberg is trying to build a good relationship with Pelosi.

Excerpts of the book were published shortly after Trump sued Facebook and Zuckerberg for not accepting his account had been shut down. Trump is also suing Twitter and CEO Jack Dorsey, as well as Google and CEO Sundar Pichai.

Trump claimed that by removal of his social media accounts from the platform, all three companies had violated First Amendment rights. He also mentioned many conservative figures censored by the three companies.