Silicon Valley Gets Political
January 16, 2019
Google, Facebook, and other tech giants are no strangers to political intrigue. Recently, it’s not their products that are being used by governments. Rather, it’s the employees who are standing up to voice their opinions. And the waves are being felt, as we discovered in a recent Digital Journal story, “Google Employees Ready to Strike Over China Censorship Deal.”
According to the story:
“This is why Google’s new China venture has caused dismay among its workforce. Reported by The Intercept, Google has apparently been working on a project code-named Dragonfly. This is to build a search engine for China that would have the additional functionality to “censor broad categories of information about human rights, democracy, and peaceful protest.”
This is a big story. Not only because employees are attempting control their fate, at least in some small percentage. As we mentioned, this stand is making waves. Now, Google’s “Shadow Workforce” is also demanding management pay more attention to it. Google’s contract employees make up a huge portion of its workforce, and do not want to be trampled upon. This is an interesting moment for Google. Its employees are attempting to be stronger, but we don’t know if it will make happier employees or a bureaucratic nightmare.
Patrick Wensink, January 16, 2018
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