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Yes and no, some of the projects mentioned in the article, like Project Dragonfly, involved developing the kind of censorship tools necessary to prop up dictato

Yes and no, some of the projects mentioned in the article, like Project Dragonfly, involved developing the kind of censorship tools necessary to prop up dictators like the ones you mentioned. That’s not whining imo, that’s standing up to exactly the breed of ‘True Evil’ you define here. We have seen this before in tech: Nazi Germany was probably IBM’s second largest customer at the time. There is a moral imperative to not let something like that happen again. We should all be disturbed that the executive team at Google felt that Project Dragonfly was appropriate.

andonisus 7y ago
My opinion is that someone is going to be providing that service, so it might as well be me (better the devil you know than the devil you don't).
- komali2 7y ago
  Exactly the reasoning used by arms dealers.
  - andonisus 7y ago
    The world is not absolute. It would be nice to be able to take an absolutist, moral stance against things I disagree with. But as I get older, I realize that one must be able to compromise and see in shades of grey.
    - komali2 7y ago
      Compromise is important, and one doesn't need to go the way of the Sith, but giving in on your morals is pretty much what leads to problems in this world.
      - andonisus 7y ago
        I agree! But also being able to compromise so that you still can wield influence is important. For example, if an American company (such as Google) does not fill the need for this service for China, that leaves the door open for other countries to fill this void -- countries which America might not want to be furnishing this service.
RestlessMind 7y ago
So by that logic, US and like minded allies should ban their industries from working with China / Russia / Middle Eastern dictatorships? Are you advocating for complete trade barriers? If not, why single out Google when Apple / Walmart / ... are allowed to benefit from Chinese market?

andonisus 7y ago

My opinion is that someone is going to be providing that service, so it might as well be me (better the devil you know than the devil you don't).

komali2 7y ago
Exactly the reasoning used by arms dealers.
- andonisus 7y ago
  The world is not absolute. It would be nice to be able to take an absolutist, moral stance against things I disagree with. But as I get older, I realize that one must be able to compromise and see in shades of grey.
  - komali2 7y ago
    Compromise is important, and one doesn't need to go the way of the Sith, but giving in on your morals is pretty much what leads to problems in this world.
    - andonisus 7y ago
      I agree! But also being able to compromise so that you still can wield influence is important. For example, if an American company (such as Google) does not fill the need for this service for China, that leaves the door open for other countries to fill this void -- countries which America might not want to be furnishing this service.

RestlessMind 7y ago

So by that logic, US and like minded allies should ban their industries from working with China / Russia / Middle Eastern dictatorships? Are you advocating for complete trade barriers? If not, why single out Google when Apple / Walmart / ... are allowed to benefit from Chinese market?