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.

[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

This is going to be very interesting. I thank God for President Trump.

[BipolarBob]

They will be rooted out and fired. FakeBook will not tolerate dissent.

[jocon307]

OMG, yes, very important. Thanks for posting this.

I do thank God for PDT too!

We must keep up the fight for individual liberty or we may as well just all go be trolls under bridges or something.

[Nifster]

RIF is a coming.....they will be cut first

[rb22982]

The more Peter Thiels that bow out, the worse this situation gets. The antigay at all cost/discussion are doing themselves no favors.

[aynrandfreak]

This could be an elaborate PR stunt (yes, I’m getting more cynical lately)

[Beave Meister]

It’s called the “Trump Effect.” MAGA.....

[gaijin]

Stole his business idea

Stole all the shares from his BEST friend

Secretly sold users’ data

Stated in a confidential email to a friend that people who trust him are "dumb-f*cks".

Married in the community proprety state of California, the very day AFTER he took Facebook public.

Requested nude photos of users to “protect them against the risk of revenge porn”.

Secretly tried to get hospitals to release vast stores of patient data “so I can help cure diseases”.

Initially pursued total rights ownership of images uploaded to FB; if you'd been photoed as a happy youth with, say, a can of Coors then later got really famous, Zuck could be paid by Coors for zero work and YOUR old photo in a new ad while you, the centerpiece of the ad, would get NOTHING. Struck down after lengthy legal battles.

De-platformed numerous Conservatives because he didn't agree with their views, couldn't define hate-speech when asked by Congress.

Secretly requested banks give him his users' financial data, including transactions, so “my users can check their balances on my site."

Digitally permitted his housing advertisers to filter out customers whose search histories were strongly associated with terms like "handicapped" , "mobility scooter" and "guidedog".

Admonished that people "build bridges instead of walls", all while building walls around his Palo Alto homes and around the huge Kauai Estate he bought and then threw the Hawaiians off of.

Established a "trustworthiness index" for ALL his facebook users while disclosing it to none of them.

Tweaked FB's search algorithym to classify posts of Conservative publications as SPAM.

[aynrandfreak]

Mr. Amerige, who started working at Facebook in 2012, said on his personal website that he followed philosophical principles laid out by the philosopher and writer Ayn Rand. He posted the 527-word memo about political diversity at Facebook on Aug. 20

Now I have more hope it's genuine.

[BlackFemaleArmyColonel]

Wow.

[GOP Poet]

Amen!!

[gubamyster]

“Dozens” unite?? Well, I guess that is a start, sort of.

[gaijin]

Amazing, isn’t it..?

Yet that is just the very informal tally I’ve kept for just 2 weeks:

Imagine instead the list length had I been as pissed off at him 10 years ago as I am now.

[Dr. Pritchett]

“They will be rooted out and fired. FakeBook will not tolerate dissent.”

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

[JPJones]

It’s pretty brave, actually, they’re risking their jobs and future careers.

Where there’s dozens coming forth, there’s dozens (or hundreds) more too afraid to speak out.

[rockinqsranch]

I’m totally confused. Help me understand why does a company that is based on computing with a program, or numerous programs require 25,000 employees? Why aren’t the computers doing everything?

NO. I’m not a techie by any means. Just an old retired guy with one old horse left in the corral.

[GOPJ]

Mr. Amerige, who started working at Facebook in 2012, said on his personal website that he followed philosophical principles laid out by the philosopher and writer Ayn Rand. He posted the 527-word memo about political diversity at Facebook on Aug. 20

Now I have more hope it's genuine.

It's real - still very scary times to be conservative...

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

#4. Just think of the knowledge and the “dirt” that any of these “diversity” people will take with them if they are fired or forced out over time.

Zukerberg is going to have a Fatburger in his pants if they talk and produce internal documents, etc.

Screw Facebook. Let it die a well deserved death. Little Richie Rich Zukerberg couldn’t give a crap except that his ego would be bruised until he resurrected another fascist-type “control” program for the stupid masses.

[metmom]

So much for being champions of free speech.

The liberals have even tried to redefine free speech.

[RayChuang88]

I think we may also be having similar discussions inside Alphabet (Google/YouTube) and Twitter.

Why? Because the actions of censoring Conservatives on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube could violate US securities laws, given that Alphabet, Facebook and Twitter are traded on US stock exchanges.