By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/this-does-not-reflect-america-congressman-presses-mark-zuckerberg-on-lack-of-diversity-among-facebook-leadership Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter ‘This does not reflect America’: Congressman presses Mark Zuckerberg on lack of diversity among Facebook leadership Politics Apr 11, 2018 2:46 PM EDT On his second day of questioning from congressional lawmakers Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked why the social media giant hasn’t done more to fix the lack of diversity in the tech industry, and within his company’s own leadership. Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina said when he looked at Facebook’s leadership on its website, none of the five people listed were black. Holding up a printed sheet of people that included the photos of Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s chief operating officer, the Democratic congressman said, “This does not reflect America.” READ MORE: What we learned from Zuckerberg’s testimony, and what we still don’t know “Can you improve the numbers on your leadership team to be more diverse?” Butterfield asked. “This is an issue that we’re focused on,” Zuckerberg said, adding that the company has “broader leadership than just five people.” “It’s not on your website,” the congressman interjected. “We can do better than that, Mr. Zuckerberg.” Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it was adding former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault to its board of directors, in an attempt to diversify the all-white group. Facebook, along with other Silicon Valley companies, have long been criticized for its diversity problems. Butterfield said that “while there has been some marginal improvement” at Facebook, “we must do better than we have done.” When asked if he would provide internal data on retention by race, Zuckerberg said, “we try to include a lot of important information” in the company’s diversity updates,” and will discuss the matter further with his team after the hearing. MORE: ‘This does not reflect America’: Congressman presses Mark Zuckerberg on lack of diversity among Facebook leadership Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal data was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica WATCH: There ‘appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias’ on Facebook, Sen. Cruz says WATCH: Zuckerberg says Facebook is open to regulation — if it’s the ‘right’ regulation Facebook is working with Mueller on Russia probe, Zuckerberg says Facebook is ‘responsible for the content’ on its platform, Zuckerberg says WATCH: ‘It was clearly a mistake to believe’ Cambridge Analytica, Zuckerberg says WATCH: ‘I’m sorry,’ Zuckerberg says as he opens Senate hearing with apology Facebook would not ‘proactively’ provide data to immigration officials to help identify threats, Zuckerberg says By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas is a senior editor for the PBS NewsHour's Communities Initiative. He also the senior editor and manager of newsletters. @Josh_Barrage
On his second day of questioning from congressional lawmakers Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked why the social media giant hasn’t done more to fix the lack of diversity in the tech industry, and within his company’s own leadership. Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina said when he looked at Facebook’s leadership on its website, none of the five people listed were black. Holding up a printed sheet of people that included the photos of Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s chief operating officer, the Democratic congressman said, “This does not reflect America.” READ MORE: What we learned from Zuckerberg’s testimony, and what we still don’t know “Can you improve the numbers on your leadership team to be more diverse?” Butterfield asked. “This is an issue that we’re focused on,” Zuckerberg said, adding that the company has “broader leadership than just five people.” “It’s not on your website,” the congressman interjected. “We can do better than that, Mr. Zuckerberg.” Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it was adding former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault to its board of directors, in an attempt to diversify the all-white group. Facebook, along with other Silicon Valley companies, have long been criticized for its diversity problems. Butterfield said that “while there has been some marginal improvement” at Facebook, “we must do better than we have done.” When asked if he would provide internal data on retention by race, Zuckerberg said, “we try to include a lot of important information” in the company’s diversity updates,” and will discuss the matter further with his team after the hearing. MORE: ‘This does not reflect America’: Congressman presses Mark Zuckerberg on lack of diversity among Facebook leadership Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal data was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica WATCH: There ‘appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias’ on Facebook, Sen. Cruz says WATCH: Zuckerberg says Facebook is open to regulation — if it’s the ‘right’ regulation Facebook is working with Mueller on Russia probe, Zuckerberg says Facebook is ‘responsible for the content’ on its platform, Zuckerberg says WATCH: ‘It was clearly a mistake to believe’ Cambridge Analytica, Zuckerberg says WATCH: ‘I’m sorry,’ Zuckerberg says as he opens Senate hearing with apology Facebook would not ‘proactively’ provide data to immigration officials to help identify threats, Zuckerberg says