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Not just BAE. Facebook only a few months ago began helping Pakistan "fight blasphemy", sending a team to the country. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-393

Not just BAE. Facebook only a few months ago began helping Pakistan "fight blasphemy", sending a team to the country. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39300270 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39300270 Only for a man to be sentenced to death for committing blasphemy on Facebook a little while later. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40246754 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40246754 Facebook say they are not responsible for this but it's obvious they have blood on their hands.

cjrp 9y ago
Plenty more here too https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-uk-companies-exporting-interception-tech-around-the-world https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-uk-companies-.... IMSI catchers exported to Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.
smokeyj 9y ago
If this is real then wow.. do Facebook employees know this is happening? Or are they just okay working for a company like that? If you work for Zuck I'd love to hear your take on this.
- erikb 9y ago
  Btw. are you a US citizen? Do you feel personally responsible for what your fellow citizens did there? Have you already packed your stuff and moved to Brazil? I'm totally aware that asking these questions there is a chance >0 that you are actually not American and/or already living in another country. Let's just agree that you can still follow the intended purpose: People in a huge group don't really feel responsible for what other people on the other end of the world do unethically for the same group.
  - geodel 9y ago
    I agree. I wonder if people who work or looking to work for companies which make ad/surveillance software and get huge salaries are always different than people who rail against these companies. Or is it just different mode of same people?
    - bogomipz 9y ago
      I'm willing to bet that there are far more people concerned about increasing corporate surveillance than work at FB.
    - pm90 9y ago
      For a lot of people the salaries are too good to pass on. And its not hard to rationalize what you are doing. This is kinda why a broader education seems very important to me, so that smart people understand exactly what they are contributing to and can take a reasoned stand. In other cases, it may be just a small part of an otherwise great organization. e.g. Palantir is used by CIA to track bad actors, but it can also be misused by police depts (hypothetically?). So the developers of the software think they are helping protect their citizens but it may be misused.
    - michaelt 9y ago
      I assume most people working in these industries think the stuff they're working on is fine (or at least represents a benefit to the world on balance) but they choose not to debate this stuff online. They probably think (a) there's a risk of embarrassing their employer, as such companies often rely on nuanced arguments to justify their actions; (b) they're unlikely to convince anyone, let alone change the community's collective opinion; and (c) they're likely to garner downvotes and similar expressions of disapproval.
  - smokeyj 9y ago
    Right, since I choose to remain on earth I'm complicit for the actions of everyone on earth. The logic doesn't check out. The reason I'm asking about FB in particular is because employees didn't sign up to build "blasphemy traps" (as opposed to Palantir employees for example). If I were an employee of FB and realized what my work was being used for - I'd demand my employer stop the behavior or resign. Edit: It's interesting that every day Uber is being trashed in the media yet here we have Zuck getting innocent people killed just to push his ticker up a fraction of a point. Uber is sexist but Zuck will kill you.
    - tapatio 9y ago
      Yes, but that doesn't fit the lib agenda.
  - bogomipz 9y ago
    >"Btw. are you a US citizen? Do you feel personally responsible for what your fellow citizens did there?" What did US citizens do? And where is "there."?
    - Thimothy 9y ago
      I'd say an awful lot of things in many places, but parent is probably talking about the employees of Facebook in Pakistan.
      - bogomipz 9y ago
        So every nationality present at FB is guilty? The home country of every H1-B Visa holder is automatically guilty too right? Or does it only matter where the company is head quartered?
    - erikb 9y ago
      The post you are quoting from is in a discussion thread about FB supporting governments in suppressing their people. FB is a US company.
      - bogomipz 9y ago
        The post is actually about BAE. I was responding to the question posed: >">"Btw. are you a US citizen? Do you feel personally responsible for what your fellow citizens did there? FB may be an American company but they recruit employees from countries around the world via H1B visas. The OPs suggestion that all Americans ares responsible for FB is completely ridiculous.
- dreamfactory2 9y ago
  China has demonstrated the feasibility of simply blocking FB (and many others) and substituting social networking platforms under national control. That control may include blatant political suppression or surveillance or slightly more subtle 'nudge' type stuff of course (just as FB et all openly do for marketing clients with targeted advertising and so on). It stands to reason that some governments will offer FB the opportunity to be allowed to operate - if they subcontract that function on behalf of the gov. (There is a growing market of social platforms if FB don't want to play, and we all know that for FB ubiquity is everything in any case. So plenty of leverage and mutual interest.) If you work for a social platform this is the name of the game so you'd need to be ok with it.
tj-teej 9y ago
Didn't Zuckerberg claim "Je Suis Charlie"?

cjrp 9y ago

Plenty more here too https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-uk-companies-exporting-interception-tech-around-the-world https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-uk-companies-.... IMSI catchers exported to Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.

smokeyj 9y ago

If this is real then wow.. do Facebook employees know this is happening? Or are they just okay working for a company like that? If you work for Zuck I'd love to hear your take on this.

erikb 9y ago
Btw. are you a US citizen? Do you feel personally responsible for what your fellow citizens did there? Have you already packed your stuff and moved to Brazil? I'm totally aware that asking these questions there is a chance >0 that you are actually not American and/or already living in another country. Let's just agree that you can still follow the intended purpose: People in a huge group don't really feel responsible for what other people on the other end of the world do unethically for the same group.
- geodel 9y ago
  I agree. I wonder if people who work or looking to work for companies which make ad/surveillance software and get huge salaries are always different than people who rail against these companies. Or is it just different mode of same people?
  - bogomipz 9y ago
    I'm willing to bet that there are far more people concerned about increasing corporate surveillance than work at FB.
  - pm90 9y ago
    For a lot of people the salaries are too good to pass on. And its not hard to rationalize what you are doing. This is kinda why a broader education seems very important to me, so that smart people understand exactly what they are contributing to and can take a reasoned stand. In other cases, it may be just a small part of an otherwise great organization. e.g. Palantir is used by CIA to track bad actors, but it can also be misused by police depts (hypothetically?). So the developers of the software think they are helping protect their citizens but it may be misused.
  - michaelt 9y ago
    I assume most people working in these industries think the stuff they're working on is fine (or at least represents a benefit to the world on balance) but they choose not to debate this stuff online. They probably think (a) there's a risk of embarrassing their employer, as such companies often rely on nuanced arguments to justify their actions; (b) they're unlikely to convince anyone, let alone change the community's collective opinion; and (c) they're likely to garner downvotes and similar expressions of disapproval.
- smokeyj 9y ago
  Right, since I choose to remain on earth I'm complicit for the actions of everyone on earth. The logic doesn't check out. The reason I'm asking about FB in particular is because employees didn't sign up to build "blasphemy traps" (as opposed to Palantir employees for example). If I were an employee of FB and realized what my work was being used for - I'd demand my employer stop the behavior or resign. Edit: It's interesting that every day Uber is being trashed in the media yet here we have Zuck getting innocent people killed just to push his ticker up a fraction of a point. Uber is sexist but Zuck will kill you.
  - tapatio 9y ago
    Yes, but that doesn't fit the lib agenda.
- bogomipz 9y ago
  >"Btw. are you a US citizen? Do you feel personally responsible for what your fellow citizens did there?" What did US citizens do? And where is "there."?
  - Thimothy 9y ago
    I'd say an awful lot of things in many places, but parent is probably talking about the employees of Facebook in Pakistan.
    - bogomipz 9y ago
      So every nationality present at FB is guilty? The home country of every H1-B Visa holder is automatically guilty too right? Or does it only matter where the company is head quartered?
  - erikb 9y ago
    The post you are quoting from is in a discussion thread about FB supporting governments in suppressing their people. FB is a US company.
    - bogomipz 9y ago
      The post is actually about BAE. I was responding to the question posed: >">"Btw. are you a US citizen? Do you feel personally responsible for what your fellow citizens did there? FB may be an American company but they recruit employees from countries around the world via H1B visas. The OPs suggestion that all Americans ares responsible for FB is completely ridiculous.
dreamfactory2 9y ago
China has demonstrated the feasibility of simply blocking FB (and many others) and substituting social networking platforms under national control. That control may include blatant political suppression or surveillance or slightly more subtle 'nudge' type stuff of course (just as FB et all openly do for marketing clients with targeted advertising and so on). It stands to reason that some governments will offer FB the opportunity to be allowed to operate - if they subcontract that function on behalf of the gov. (There is a growing market of social platforms if FB don't want to play, and we all know that for FB ubiquity is everything in any case. So plenty of leverage and mutual interest.) If you work for a social platform this is the name of the game so you'd need to be ok with it.

tj-teej 9y ago

Didn't Zuckerberg claim "Je Suis Charlie"?