Dozens at Facebook Unite to Challenge Its ‘Intolerant’ Liberal Culture

NY Times ^ | 28 August 2018 | Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel

[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

The post went up quietly on Facebook’s internal message board last week. Titled “We Have a Problem With Political Diversity,” it quickly took off inside the social network.

“We are a political monoculture that’s intolerant of different views,” Brian Amerige, a senior Facebook engineer, wrote in the post, which was obtained by The New York Times. “We claim to welcome all perspectives, but are quick to attack — often in mobs — anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology.”

Since the post went up, more than 100 Facebook employees have joined Mr. Amerige to form an online group called FB’ers for Political Diversity, according to two people who viewed the group’s page and who were not authorized to speak publicly. The aim of the initiative, according to Mr. Amerige’s memo, is to create a space for ideological diversity within the company.

The new group has upset other Facebook employees, who said its online posts were offensive to minorities. One engineer, who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation, said several people had lodged complaints with their managers about FB’ers for Political Diversity and were told that it had not broken any company rules.

Another employee said the group appeared to be constructive and inclusive of different political viewpoints. Mr. Amerige did not respond to requests for comment.

The activity is a rare sign of organized dissent within Facebook over the company’s largely liberal workplace culture. While the new group is just a sliver of Facebook’s work force of more than 25,000, the company’s workers have in the past appeared less inclined than their peers at other tech companies to challenge leadership, and most have been loyalists to its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.

[Bullish]

Yeah sure FB liberal know-nothings. Follow Zuck, a petulant, immature little boy. With all his money maybe he can buy some integrity? Naaah.

[Reno89519]

That’s more than 100 Americans soon to be replaced by Indians.

[arrogantsob]

Brilliant!

[TigerClaws]

Facebook a DARPA program?

https://www.corbettreport.com/the-weird-darpa-facebook-coincidence-you-never-heard-about/

[Bikkuri]

Similar to what happened at Mozilla a couple of years ago :/

[Bikkuri]

I had asked about that a few months ago.. never got a clear answer :p

[Nifster]

They have all signed nondiscloure agreements

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[CincyRichieRich]

I hope PDJT a acknowledges them via Twitter today to indicate he is watching closely...

[Lurker]

“The new group has upset other Facebook employees, who said its online posts were offensive to minorities.”

Thus proving the assertion.

L

[trebb]

Too many have bought into “diversity” being a mixture of different looking humans instead of an admixture of ideas...in their world, 100 doctors of varying background who all looked different and covered the realm of “I get my orgasms this way, so I’m not a man or a woman”, but who all misdiagnosed the same symptoms the same way, causing much suffering and death, is “proper diversity”...

[tom paine 2]

bump

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The antigay at all cost/discussion are doing themselves no favors.

Could you translate that into something intelligible?

[cyn]

Thanks for posting.

[MortMan]

Computers only do exactly what they are told to do, and only if they are told in a way they understand. The engineers are tasked with writing software to keep (or ‘make’, depending on your point of view) the sight interesting, while also gleaning tons of user information and keeping outsiders from penetrating the site’s internal data streams.

Consider the maintenance issue for a fleet of cars or trucks: Someone has to specialize in handling tire issues, someone in diesels, someone in sedans, etc. That’s how such an organization builds up - a whole set of special needs crop up, adding people who handle those issues while helping others.

Add to that the Facebook stasi, and you have a bunch of people in the company.

[T-Bone Texan]

"...Mao killed the counter-revolutionaries wholesale in China racking up 60,000,000 dead in the last 70 years. It’s the communist way!!..."

C'mon, man.

In Mao's defense, some of those 60 million were eaten by their fellow peasants to avoid death by starvation.

Wait, did I just sorta defend Mao? That makes me barf in my mouth a little.

[Dr. Pritchett]

“In Mao’s defense, some of those 60 million were eaten by their fellow peasants to avoid death by starvation.”

Good point! 60,000,000 would be a lot of killing for just one guy! I guess you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs! Eh, comrade!? :)

I’ve always sort of looked at this like when the security guard has a heart attack when you rob a back. They still charge you with the murder, don’t they?

[T-Bone Texan]

Well, I can’t speak to the cultural aspect of it because frankly those people are inscrutable, but Mao caused the famine that made those peasants hungry in the first place, so yeah.

But hey, they eat dogs and stuff to this day. And when I say “stuff”, I mean the part of the crawfish we throw away!

[Dr. Pritchett]

“Well, I can’t speak to the cultural aspect of it because frankly those people are inscrutable, “

No argument from me, friend! I was just talking about how viscous and intolerant the leftists are. The ends justify the means for them!!

[DeweyCA]

A senior engineer named Brian Amerige posted a short statement on Facebook’s internal message board. It began with words that will ring true to employees at hundreds of major American corporations and academic institutions:

We are a political monoculture that’s intolerant of different views.​ We claim to welcome all perspectives, but are quick to attack — often in mobs — anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology. We throw labels that end in ​*obe​ and ​*ist​ at each other, attacking each other’s character rather than their ideas.

We do this so consistently that employees are afraid to say anything when they disagree with what’s around them politically.​ HR has told me that this is not a rare concern, and I’ve personally gotten over a hundred messages to that effect. Your colleagues are afraid because they know that they — not their ideas — will be attacked. They know that all the talk of “openness to different perspectives” does not apply to causes of “social justice,” immigration, “diversity,” and “equality.” On this issues [sic], you can either keep quiet or sacrifice your reputation and career.