In an interview for a special coronavirus-focused episode of POLITICOs Women Rule podcast, Fidji Simo, Head of the Facebook App, maintained that the companys approach to coronavirus is in accord with its long-lasting policy that we would take down content that can lead to imminent harm, said Simo. And that policy is something we have applied in this situation by working closely with the CDC and the WHO to understand which claims and which types of behaviors they would consider could lead to imminent harm.

Simo said Facebook has worked closely on the topic with the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to understand which claims and which types of behaviors they would consider could lead to imminent harm.

The imminent harm is very real and very tangible, Simo said. It remains an extremely difficult space to navigate because we are very committed to freedom of speech. But at the same time, there are some spaces and times where it's also really important to keep people safe and this time, in particular, is a time where we wanted to be incredibly aggressive with this.

On Monday, Simo spoke with POLITICOs Anna Palmer. What follows are excerpts of that interview, edited for length and readability. For more, listen to the interview on the newest episode of Women Rule.

Anna Palmer: As we talk, coronavirus has shut down a lot of the economy. It's forcing us to work from home. Can you give us a sense of how youre personally adjusting to this moment in time?

Fidji Simo: Thanks for having me. I think it's hard for everyone right now. I have a four-year-old, so it's been quite interesting to have a full time job where I am like a lot of other people in video conferences all day while having a child who doesn't understand why she can't have her mom all day long since mom is in the house. I'm pretty lucky that my husband is a stay-at-home dad. But it is certainly an adjustment, trying to balance all of that. A couple days ago, I was doing a video conference while making fairy potions on the side, off-camera. It's multitasking for the win.

Palmer: In terms of your role at Facebook, you're the vice president and in charge of the Facebook app. I imagine the pandemic has really changed your strategy and outlook. Can you talk a bit about how you've had to change things?

Simo: We've adjusted our roadmap incredibly quickly to react to the needs that people have right now. And essentially, we've prioritized three things. One is giving people access to reliable and authoritative information during this time. The second is helping them build community, because physical distancing doesn't necessarily have to mean social distancing, and, in fact, people are craving connection right now. And then the third thing is helping with the economic recovery and the whole reopening of society. These have been the core focus for us, and some were things we had been working on for a while, like building community, but some are very new.

Palmer: [On Monday,] Facebook released a statement that it would be blocking anti-quarantine protesters from organizing on the site. How did you come to that decision? It's kind of a weird space to be in kind of policing who should be able to gather and organize in these times.

Simo: Yes. So we've had a long-lasting policy that we would take down content that can lead to imminent harm. And that policy is something we have applied in this situation by working closely with the CDC and the WHO to understand which claims and which types of behaviors they would consider could lead to imminent harm.

So, for example, claims that a certain thing is going to cure coronavirus could lead to imminent harm if people try it, and so we take that down. Social distancing is part of the same philosophy here, where the CDC and WHO are being very clear that we need to continue social distancing for now. And as a result, we are following their lead, and really making sure that any content that goes against that is taken down.

Palmer: One of the criticisms that Facebook has faced pretty much since the 2016 election has been the use of the platform to spread misinformation or disinformation, particularly on hot-button political issues. And Facebook's approach to that has always been pretty hands-off: that it's free speech; it's political debate. Why did you decide that this time it was different?

Simo: So like I said, we've always had this policy around misinformation that can lead to imminent harm. And every time we saw this type of misinformation, we took it down. In this case, we are having a very unprecedented situation, where we are taking that very seriously, because the imminent harm is very real and very tangible. And so we wanted to take a very aggressive approach to make sure our platform would connect people with authoritative information and would steal them away from anything that could cause harm. But to your point, it remains an extremely difficult space to navigate because we are very committed to freedom of speech. But at the same time, there are some spaces and times where it's also really important to keep people safe and this time, in particular, is a time where we wanted to be incredibly aggressive with this.

Palmer: Facebook recently launched a Coronavirus Information Center. Tell us what that is.

Simo: Yes. So it's a destination on Facebook that combines a lot of authoritative information about what's happening from the WHO, from the CDC, and these global- or nationwide health organizations. But it's also information at the local level, because sometimes that's the thing that's most important to people's lives on a day-to-day basis.

We've also added a lot of modules that are going to really help people. One is a module on mental health with some tips, in partnership with the WHO, on what you need to do to take care of yourself during his time, because we know the situation is triggering a lot of mental-health issues. Another one is Community Help, which allows you to offer help or ask for help. And that's a way to connect communities around their needs. We're seeing nurses ask for masks in that space; we are seeing therapists offer their services for free to people who are struggling; we are seeing people offer to do deliveries; we even saw the New York Blood Center ask for blood donations. This is really a space for communities to come together and exchange their own need for help or their offers for help.

Palmer: Are you thinking through Facebook's role differently than before? We're in a time of social distancing, where people can't be together in large groups. What are you doing to create that online community?

Simo: Absolutely. So we've been thinking about building community for a very long time, as you know. But it does take on a really different meaning during this time because people are craving social connection, and these communities become a lifeline for making sure that people are not isolated; that they feel like they can find support.

We are seeing a lot of local communities come together in Facebook groups to make sure that they check in on the elderly, to make sure that everybody's taken care of. And that has been really inspiring for us. These community leaders whether it's offline in the real world, or online on Facebook these community leaders do the very hard work of making sure that their communities are healthy, that they're vibrant, and we want to give them tools to continue doing that.

We've also seen a massive increase in communication tools like Facebook Live, for example, where that's a really good way for people to communicate to a larger audience. We're seeing teachers give online classes in parenting groups so that parents who have to homeschool their kids can rely on that. We are seeing churches go Live a lot more as a way to make sure that they can give hope to people who are at home. And we've even launched ways to make this much more accessible: One of my favorite features is the ability to create a toll-free number when you go live as a church so that people who don't have Internet access especially the elderly can just dial in and listen to that church service over the phone, which is a way of making sure everyone has access to services that are going to make them feel more connected.

Palmer: I want to shift gears a little bit. I mentioned at the top that we're doing this over a video conference not the typical way that we conduct these podcasts. But we are, as we've said several times, in unprecedented times. You oversee a team of 4,500 people in the Bay Area. What's it like managing a group of that size when almost everyones working from home?

Simo: It's pretty challenging, as you can imagine. But first off, were incredibly lucky that we can still work. I'm always reminding myself to be grateful of that, even when we have the inevitable awkward, 'Can you hear me? Are you still here?' videoconferences that we are all experiencing these days.

The thing that's really difficult is to maintain the social connections with the teams. I'm someone who leads very much by connecting with people, by trying to understand where they're at are they really fulfilled, are they energized? And that is harder to pick up on on a video conference. Same thing for broader team-building: The way teams are built very often relies on mutual trust and really picking up on everyone's vibes. In some ways, this situation is forcing everyone to be a little bit more vulnerable because, you know, when you have your kids running around and asking you for something ridiculous on a videoconference, you kind of have to lift up the veil a little bit. I think that part has actually helped people connect at a deeper level. But we are missing all the signals that make for human connections, [which] usually require physical presence. So I'm trying to recreate that. We have times, for example, where we are on video conference, but just working and hanging out and not actually like having meetings, to recreate being at our desks and having a chat. I'm going to continue that. But that's the thing I'm most worried about: losing track of how my team is feeling.

Palmer: I want to take a step back. You grew up in a coastal town in the south of France. What did your parents do?

Simo: My dad was a fisherman, as were all the other men in my family. And my mom runs a small closing boutique. I wasn't predestined to end up in Silicon Valley; I was the first one in my family to graduate from high school. But one thing that my parents always taught me is that anything's possible, and I'm very grateful to them for instilling this belief in me. That's what led me here.

Palmer: Oftentimes, people need somebody to look up to to think, Oh, I want to go into the world of medicine or into science. How did you get the idea to go into the tech world?

Simo: So I don't think that tech was like, tech wasn't what came up first. What came up first was watching on TV a lot of very independent, accomplished businesswomen. And what I would tell my mom was always like, 'One day I want to be very important and have a suitcase, and like rush through an airport.' [Laughs] And while that did not really constitute a job in itself, I had kind of an image of what I wanted to project, and so I started going into business. I really fell in love with the U.S., honestly, through [the] media. That's why a big part of my career was spent in entertainment, because I think entertainment has the potential of opening people's eyes to worlds that you would not have imagined otherwise. And for me, the United States was this place where anything was possible, where you could realize all your dreams. And then tech came a little bit later.

Palmer: Silicon Valley the tech world in general has a reputation as a place that's not particularly hospitable to women. Why do you think that is? What still needs to change?

Simo: I think it goes back to one very simple thing, which is the numbers are still not there. When you are in a room that's half women, it's very hard to have an environment that's not great for women, because you have half of the room that's going to just make it good. And until we get there, I think that's going to remain a problem.

We have made a lot of progress in the last few years in really being able to put words on the problem and not make it a taboo, which is always the first step towards solving things. But theres still a lot of work to do in terms of onboarding women into the industry and giving them role models so that they believe that tech is a place for them. And then, once they're there, creating opportunities for them so that they stay in the industry.

One thing I always say is that women get a lot of advice, but they don't get a lot of help. I always differentiate between mentorship and sponsorship. And I think what women need right now [are] fewer, like, very nice coffees, where the guys can pat themselves on the back for having spent 20 minutes with a woman, and a little bit more, like, doors opened and, you know, someone in the room pushing for that woman not being overlooked. That's what I'm trying to do. The point of having women in leadership positions is that they can slowly but surely change the discussions that happen in the room, and make sure that they look out for the women, make sure that they put the spotlight on the magic that women can bring to the table.

Palmer: One of the things you've done on this front is you started a group called Women in Product. Give us just kind of a 30-second pitch: What is it, and where did you get the idea from?

Simo: So we started this dinner with my co-founder, Deb Liu, who runs Facebook Marketplace, and we started these dinners with other women in technology years ago. And during these dinners, we realized that there was no other place for women in products women who were building all of the new products that people were using to really connect and feel like they have a community that supports them. So during these dinners, the idea came of doing a conference where we could bring all of these women together. And the first conference was born, of like 400 people. And then, slowly, we started creating a Facebook group so that all of these women in product could exchange ideas, find support. And then the next year, when we decided to do this conference again, we had a waiting list of like 1,000 women. So we realized, 'Wow, there's definitely some demand there.' And the last conference we did was 2,000 women. It has become this global community of women really helping each other out and making sure they create opportunities for themselves and for others.

Palmer: You are in charge of the Facebook app, which has something like 2.2 billion users. You report directly to Mark Zuckerberg. You oversee, as we said, 4,500 employees. How do you deal with the pressure that comes from that?

Simo: That's a great question. And it's funny: you assumed with your question that I dealt with it very well. [Laughs] I think, you know, the most important thing for managing stress is really understanding why you are doing something. What is your mission? And I've seen from the very beginning that a big part of my mission is finding the magic in people and putting a spotlight on that and helping them find a network of people to support them. And I think when you're really anchored in your purpose, a lot of the stress becomes more excitement than stress, and that helps you navigate these tough situations.

But for a long time, I wasnt particularly good about self-care, and I was just rushing and rushing and just so excited, honestly, to be able to do the next thing so grateful that this little girl from the south of France has now this massive opportunity of a lifetime, that I assumed that, you know, I needed to work all the time. And with the birth of my daughter, that has really given me a lot of perspective that I need a lot more balance in my life taking care of myself to be able to take care of her. And so I do. And even taking care of myself so I can take care of my teams. And so I do spend a lot more time being intentional about how we fuel my energy, and you know, what gives me energy outside of work, which, in my case, is a lot of artistic endeavors I paint and I sculpt.

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We wanted to be incredibly aggressive with this - Politico