Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer of Facebook-parent Meta announced on Wednesday that she would be stepping down from her role in the company after 14 years. In the post announcing her departure, Sandberg spoke about her journey, helping shape the company from a small startup to the social media behemoth that it is today.
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg termed her departure as the “end of an era,” praising her for being the architect of the company’s advertising business, which continues to be Meta’s biggest source of revenue. But not all netizens were as kind to Sandberg, who was largely seen as the second in command to Zuckerberg at the company.
Mally Skok, an interior designer, was harshly critical of Sandberg, tweeting about how she let down people by not standing up to Zuckerberg. Skok called Facebook a “destroyer of democracy,” in the same tweet. She seems to be referencing the rampant proliferation of fake news on the platform and its alleged contribution to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Facebook had later suspended then US President Donald Trump’s account following its finding that he stoked violence during the insurrection.
You let us down #sherylsandberg -you didn’t lean in for all of us women, or for humanity, you never reined in that little twat, and now the whole world is upside down. #Facebook is a destroyer of democracy. https://t.co/Ywf5swpLwT
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Amrita Bhinder, an Indian lawyer, columnist and spokesperson for The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, tweeted that Sandberg was facing scrutiny after documents leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen were handed over to congress. Haugen was a product manager at Meta before she turned whistleblower and accused Meta of allowing online hate and extremism on its platforms while failing to protect children from harmful content. Haugen said that the company lacked any incentive to fix the problems.
Sheryl Sandberg to step down as Facebook chief operating officer
Recently Sandberg and Facebook had faced increased scrutiny after documents leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen were turned over to Congress and published by a number of news outlets.https://t.co/rPolYaqSMG
Andrea Nepori, a Berlin-based multimedia journalist, said that there was an internal investigation on Sheryl Sandberg because she allegedly pressured the Daily Mail over a story about her former partner and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Nepori also shared a link to a WSJ article that reports on her pressurising the Daily Mail
In case you missed it, there was an ongoing internal investigation on #SherylSandberg at Meta before she resigned. She allegedly pressured the DailyMail over a story about er ex-boyfriend, Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick. https://t.co/IcA5LpHyff
But not everyone was harsh towards Sandberg while responding to her departure. “This Q+A from 2020 with #SherylSandberg is so relevant today. She got real about grief, resilience, and hope,” tweeted Marguerite Ward, a reporter at Business Insider. Ward shared a link of her 2020 interview with Sandberg, where the latter shared her experience with handling grief during the pandemic.
This Q+A from 2020 with #SherylSandberg is so relevant today. She got real about grief, resilience, and hope. https://t.co/Io7lYQ94Vc
Akshobh Giridharadas, a Washington-based journalist tweeted about how he has been a fan of Sandberg for over a decade. Giridharadas tweeted about how Sandberg responded to his cold emails two times. He also described Sandberg as “amiable,” despite Meta’s reputation.
I’ve been a #SherylSandberg fan for over a decade. My fandom was codified when I cold emailed her, and she responded, not once but twice. Had the privilege of interviewing her late husband, Dave Goldberg. Despite Meta’s reputation, she was always amiable. https://t.co/wk80YTHOKt
Bob Clark, the executive chairman of a construction firm congratulated Sandberg and spoke about he admired the COO for her “tremendous work” at Meta, and wished her the best for the next chapter of her life.
This Q+A from 2020 with #SherylSandberg is so relevant today. She got real about grief, resilience, and hope. https://t.co/Io7lYQ94Vc
In the Facebook post announcing the departure, Sandberg said that she will be focusing more on her foundation once she leaves the company officially by fall this year. Even after her departure, she will continue to serve on Meta’s board of directors.
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