I can't speak for the other signers, but while I happen to agree with Domingos's position on the NeurIPS impact statement (that it's misguided and injects a lot

I can't speak for the other signers, but while I happen to agree with Domingos's position on the NeurIPS impact statement (that it's misguided and injects a lot of additional political bias into the already-too-noisy-and-biased peer review process; and that in any case the responsibility for mitigating negative impact of new technology on society should fall more on those who develop the technology into products rather than on scientists doing basic research) it's not the main reason I signed the letter. (Nor do I support all of Domingos's views in general, nor his poor conduct on Twitter; I think changing the conference name from NIPS to NeurIPS was clearly the right decision, for instance.) Rather, I'm alarmed by what I perceive to be a collapse over recent years of the Overton window when it comes to any topic vaguely in the vicinity of politics, ethics, or DEI; especially (but not only) on Twitter. Expressing anything short of the consensus "right" opinion (even on matters of ethics or moral values that are inherently personal and subjective) has become a gamble, with the stakes your job, reputation, and online and offline safety. Probably the most eye-opening moment for me was the recent attempt to "cancel" Steven Pinker---a rigorous thinker who has devoted a not insignificant portion of his time and influence to advancing inclusion in science---over the flimsiest of reasons (out-of-context tweets from literally decades ago). Of course, he has not been the sole target of the Twitter mob (see also: Yann Lecun, Scott Aaronson, etc.) I have great respect for my conservative colleagues and respect their opinions, though I myself am a liberal and my personal politics likely has little overlap with that of Domingos et al. I also strongly support broadening inclusion in STEM and have not hesitated to lend my support to victims of harassment and abuse. But there is vast difference between holding people accountable for misconduct, and silencing people who merely dissent by expressing unpopular or "wrong" opinions. CS faces many challenges ahead at the intersection of ethics and technology, and we will need an open and respectful forum, tolerant of ideas from a wide spectrum of political beliefs and personal values, to make progress. Relevant WaitButWhy, where academic Twitter currently lies very much in the right column: https://28oa9i1t08037ue3m1l0i861-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/31.1-agreement-decency-v2.png https://28oa9i1t08037ue3m1l0i861-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-...