Former Facebook employee Mark Luckie says the company “has a black people problem.”

Luckie writes that the social media giant’s black people problem exists both at the company’s Silicon Valley campus and across its platform.

ADVERTISEMENT

In a Facebook post made public Tuesday, Luckie outlines his issues with the company that has recently dealt with a number of controversies and explains why he left.

“You can see this reflected in everything from the guest lists of Facebook's external programs, the industry events the company has historically sponsored, the creators and influencers who appear in Explore tabs on Instagram, the power users who are verified on the platforms, and more,” Luckie wrote.

Luckie shared the post with all employees at Facebook earlier this month before his departure.

Luckie wrote that black employees such as himself are often met with surprise by co-workers who say things like “I didn't know black people worked at Facebook."

He went on to say the platform suffers because of the lack of diverse voices present.

“We are continually missing opportunities to engage with groups whose use of our family of products is fundamentally different than the general population,” Luckie wrote.

Luckie told USA Today that he wished he did not have to write the post and could have stayed with the company. But he said he felt compelled to speak out to convey “what all the black employees are saying and feeling.”

"I know from being inside Facebook that Facebook doesn’t take any action against the bad things that it has done unless it’s held publicly accountable," Luckie said. "I don’t want to say I felt a responsibility, but I guess I felt an ability to speak on behalf of all of these black employees."

Facebook's press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The post from Luckie comes as Facebook deals with several controversies surrounding its handling of issues on the platform. The social media platform has come under fire for being a conduit in the spread of misinformation and for outside companies, such as Cambridge Analytica, gaining access to users’ data.

The company has recently been dealing with the fallout from reports that it hired a public relations firm to do opposition research on critics, including billionaire philanthropist George Soros.