George Floyd Protests: Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft Among Tech Companies Showing Solidarity With Black Community

Amazon, Sony, Microsoft and Facebook are among the many major corporations to publicly express solidarity with black communities amid mass protests following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who was killed on May 25 after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nine minutes.

“The inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people must stop. Together we stand in solidarity with the Black community -- our employees, customers and partners -- in the fight against systemic racism and injustice,” Amazon posted on Twitter.

The comments come after the e-commerce giant faced criticism this year after executives reportedly belittled Christian Smalls, a former African-African employee who had organized a protest at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, over working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We denounce systemic racism and violence against the Black community. We will continue to work towards a future marked by empathy and inclusion and stand with our Black creators, players, employees, families and friends. #BlackLivesMatter,” a tweet from Sony’s Playstation account reads.

“We need to recognize that we are better, smarter and stronger when we consider the voices, the actions of all communities, and you have my assurance that Microsoft will continue to advocate to have all those voices heard and respected,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told employees on Friday. “Have empathy for those who are scared and uncertain, and join me and everyone on the senior leadership team, in advocating for change in our company, in our communities, and in society at large.”

Microsoft encountered controversy in 2016 after the company unveiled its Twitter AI chatbot, Tay. Trolls on social media corrupted the chatbot, causing Tay to make racist and anti-semitic statements. Microsoft deleted Tay’s controversial tweets and eventually shut down the chatbot.

“The pain of the last week reminds us how far our country has to go to give every person the freedom to live with dignity and peace. It reminds us yet again that the violence Black people in America live with today is part of a long history of racism and injustice. We all have the responsibility to create change,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post Sunday.

Zuckerberg said his company is allocating $10 million to groups working on racial justice.

Zuckerberg has drawn scrutiny for not taking action on controversial posts from President Trump. Facebook employees on Monday plan to stage a virtual walkout over Zuckerberg’s decision on the issue.

Last week, Trump tweeted “when the shooting starts, the looting starts” as protests spread across the U.S., with the same post also appearing on Facebook. The saying was used by a racist Miami police chief in the 1960’s. Twitter said the post violated its terms of service for “glorifying violence.”