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Of course employees within Facebook should push back but do they have the ability? The fact that notes like these only get published when someone is already out
by frgtpsswrdlame 8y ago
Of course employees within Facebook should push back but do they have the ability? The fact that notes like these only get published when someone is already out the door throw into question the idea that employees have any power here. Corporations are just mini-governments and are prone to punishing workers who question their ethical position.
- gboudrias 8y ago> question their ethical position Or in Facebook's case, lack thereof.
- erobbins 8y agoWe pushed back all the time! It was nearly useless though, as our objections would either be dismissed with platitudes by the execs or ignored by the team actually working on the feature (and therefore caring more about their PSC review than the right thing)
- frgtpsswrdlame 8y agoI'd say that proves my point. The people actually programming the feature or responsible for the thing never push back because the PSC review is more important. A limp-wristed "push back" that never materializes at the most crucial moment - when you are asked to do something unethical - isn't really push back at all.
- gowld 8y agoI read that at Facebook anyone can build any feature. Is that true? Was that true in the past?
- nextlevelwizard 8y agoWhat push back have you offered for "something unethical"? It is easy to be armchair activist who doesn't have to actually put their neck on the line. On HN a lot of people talk about how people should just resign instead of implementing something "immoral", but never take into account that people have debt and lives to live and while you might lose sleep over a piece of code you wrote at least you won't go hungry or die of exposure in ultimately futile effort at stopping the feature, since the company will always find someone who needs money badly enough to complete the job.
- frgtpsswrdlame 8y agoI haven't. Like I said in my original comment I don't believe employees actually have the power to push back here. The corporation is too powerful. I'm not armchair activisting.