Note from Santa Cruz Works: We believe that most tech companies like Apple are taking action to address social and economic inequalities. And this includes ownership for their messaging and content. Snap  announced this morning that it will not be promoting content from President Trump’s Snapchat account in its Discover tab following statements from Trump last week on Twitter, which threatened that protestors could be met with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.” This is not the case for Facebook. Zuckerberg has continued to turn a blind eye to political statements which incite violence.

Tech giants are putting out statements and putting up money in support of protesters and racial justice causes as demonstrations continue across the United States over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer.

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook recently issued a memo, obtained by Bloomberg, to the Cupertino-based company's employees that discussed ongoing discrimination and inequality in the country. In the memo, Cook pledged to donate funds to groups like the Equal Justice Initiative, and said the company would be “matching two-for-one all employee donations via Benevity.”

“This is a moment when many people may want nothing more than a return to normalcy, or to a status quo that is only comfortable if we avert our gaze from injustice,” he wrote. “As difficult as it may be to admit, that desire is itself a sign of privilege. George Floyd’s death is shocking and tragic proof that we must aim far higher than a ‘normal’ future, and build one that lives up to the highest ideals of equality and justice.”

Cook spoke out earlier about the protests on Thursday, two days after demonstrations started in Minneapolis.

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Sunday that the social media company will commit $10 million to racial justice groups, and that it was “working with our civil rights advisors and our employees to identify organizations locally and nationally that could most effectively use this right now.” He also said the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has invested $40 million annually in such groups for several years.

“I know Facebook needs to do more to support equality and safety for the Black community through our platforms,” he wrote. “As hard as it was to watch, I'm grateful that Darnella Frazier posted on Facebook her video of George Floyd's murder because we all needed to see that. We need to know George Floyd's name. But it's clear Facebook also has more work to do to keep people safe and ensure our systems don't amplify bias.”

Zuckerberg is facing criticism and some internal dissent for saying that Facebook will not take action against a Friday post by President Donald Trump that appeared to be calling for violence against protesters in Minneapolis, in which Trump wrote that “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” That message was also posted on Twitter, which blocked the message for glorifying violence.

Continue reading here