For me at least: it's the idea of making a public pronouncement that you support some political view (because that's easy). Then you do something that, at least on the face of it, goes against that position when there could be business repercussions (because that's hard).
Why not just keep your mouth shut?
But there is not one bit of me that doesn't believe Mark really does support free speech everywhere. He didn't have to say that, but he did. He made that effort, even though he knew it opened his flank. And of course he knew that, because he's not a complete idiot.
This is the real world. Where while complying with the law, you protest it, because that's how you act in a civilized society.
"How you act in a civilized society" leads to normalization and eventual acceptance of problems caused by compliance.
Lots of talk in your comment about the "real world", without a hint of irony that our "civilized society" only exists in its current form thanks to revolutions and wars.
The idea that protests should only occur within the confines of the law tells me you have a bit to learn about the "real world".
>He made that effort
I know the Facebook crowd might think so, but saying "Je Suis Charlie" takes effort?