Facebook Inc. told employees today that it will introduce new restrictions on what social and political issues staff can discuss.

According to reports, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told staff during a weekly employee Q&A session that new rules will be introduced, although the exact nature of those rules won’t be announced until next week. The move comes after leaks from the company’s internal messaging platform, Workplace, showed intense debate among employees.

“We deeply value expression and open discussion,” Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne said in a statement. “What we’ve heard from our employees is that they want the option to join debates on social and political issues rather than see them unexpectedly in their work feed. We’re updating our employee policies and work tools to ensure our culture remains respectful and inclusive.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Zuckerberg said staff shouldn’t have to talk about polarizing political and social issues during work time. If staff should take to the messaging platform, then those conversations will be moderated and monitored.

Facebook has come under scrutiny of late from the public and its own staff. In June, some staff joined a virtual walkout in protest of the decision to leave President Trump’s contentious post on the platform. The staff and public alike have also criticized the company for allowing hate, propaganda and misinformation to remain on Facebook.

Some called out Zuckerberg’s as hypocritical, since he claims to stand for “voice and free expression.” He doesn’t see it that way, reportedly telling employees that the new rules will only protect people from harassment and support underrepresented employees.

Google LLC is also reportedly cracking down on internal discussions on messaging boards after months of heated debates about various social issues. Conversations will now be moderated, and some staff will be asked to go through moderation training. What the company called “tough global conversations” have apparently been on the rise since people have been working from home.

“Our world is going to get more complicated as the year continues,” a Google management team stated in an internal blog. “Tensions continue specifically for our Black+ community with Black Lives Matter, and our Asian Googlers with coronavirus and China/Hong Kong. All of this is compounded by the additional stress of working from home, social isolation, and caregiver responsibilities — to name a few.”

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