This doesn't necessarily mean that Facebook fired Luckey because of his ideology. Some of the WSJ's Facebook contacts said the greater issues were Luckey's lack of transparency and his reduced role in Oculus' day-to-day business. He had insisted he hadn't made posts on the pro-Trump group, but that contradicted emails Luckey reportedly sent to a Daily Beast journalist. In a statement, Facebook said "unequivocally" that it didn't fire Luckey over his political views, and said that any discussion of politics was "entirely up to him."

Luckey has publicly shied away from explaining the circumstances behind the exit, and in a statement characterized it as in the past. However, the sources said that he hired a lawyer who claimed Facebook violated California law by both pushing him to support a politician and allegedly punishing him for political activity.

If the reports are accurate, they could put Facebook's political leanings under closer scrutiny. While Zuckerberg testified to the Senate that the generally left-leaning company didn't let its politics affect its content moderation, that might not have been the case for its executive lineup. And that, in turn, could draw concern from conservatives who already have questions about Facebook's political leanings. This doesn't necessarily mean that Facebook's approach to Luckey reflected its approach to content. It won't help the company's image, however.