5 ms·

Silicon Valley’s Rape Problem

76 points by isomorph 6y ago

pbiggar 6y ago
> I also hope Facebook won’t claim that this guy “wasn’t working for us at the time,” when everyone knew he was simply operating in stealth mode (as board member Peter Thiel was quoted as saying years later, “I don’t think [he] ever really left.”) A google search for "i dont think [he] ever really left" [1] indicates that Peter Thiel was talking about Sean Parker when he said this. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=peter+thiel+%22I+don%E2%80%99t+think%22+%22ever+really+left%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=peter+thiel+%22I+don%E2%80%9...
roflc0ptic 6y ago
This lacks so many important details to make it seem credible. It reminds me of that old website, "Did [some famous right winger whose name I can't remember] rape and kill a woman in 1998?" which was intentionally designed to be substance-less. This just seems like it's trying to appear substantial without managing to do so. Or maybe it really reminds me of WWE. If you want to "catch people in lies", catch people in lies; don't just say that you're going to do it.
- tzs 6y ago
  > It reminds me of that old website, "Did [some famous right winger whose name I can't remember] rape and kill a woman in 1998?" which was intentionally designed to be substance-less. I believe this is what you are thinking of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck_v._Eiland-Hall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck_v._Eiland-Hall As Wikipedia notes, that actually was based on a joke from Gilbert Gottfried's segment in the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, where Gottfried repeatedly said that the rumors Saget had raped and killed a girl were false. That whole segment was quite funny: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2x1bwa https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2x1bwa Edit: fixed link to Gottfried's segment.
whymauri 6y ago
This person should probably find a reputable news source to tell their story to. Not to diminish the value of what they're writing and their mission, but some editorial guidance could be really useful. The post seems to be more about the author and how good they are than the core problem they're talking about. When he starts to discuss the core issue, it's vague and I honestly don't know what's going on.
- frankfrankfrank 6y ago
  I get the sense you may not be aware of the state of "news" these days. Let's say he does find a news organization that is interested in even touching this, it's likely that he will simply be lured into exclusivity agreements that then leads to the story being locked away to protect the depraved princes and dukes of Silicon Valley. Even if he finds some news or actual journalistic organization with some moderate reach that has not been totally compromised, the shadow censorship will totally suppress the story from even getting in front of anyone who is not already aware. In case the allusion was not sufficient; fact of the matter is that Silicon Valley, although not exclusive by any means, is one of the major epicenters of an emerging neo-aristocracy that becomes ever more drunk on its power, control, and abuses. For its own sake, the exponential network effects of the whole technology sector really needs to be shattered and scattered. We say "diversity is our greatest strength" like a mantra, but we practice centralization of power and control in ever fewer people … a self-important and self-perpetual aristocratic parasitic class. Maybe the ability to abuse will last centuries, as it lasted up until the American/French Revolution, but maybe it won't and the peasants will come to erase the whole aristocratic layer many of us belong to. I'd rather not find out.
  - disgu 6y ago
    That's complete nonsense. There are plenty of good journalists out there. Of course no reputable one would publish this as there's no proof and it's mostly just the author talking about himself.
  - fx32s 6y ago
    I'd like some evidence with all these conspiracy theories. Recent battles between news corps and silicon valley have shown they are on opposite sides if anything. There is no shortage of negative press regarding silicon valley.
keenreed 6y ago
Men get raped too, it is not gendered issue! Nobody ever asked me for a consent.
hasmolo 6y ago
this thing is interesting if it's Sean Parker that's being accused, note that this person has called Sean out personally a tome or two before[0]. sadly, all of this information feels true, but i don't know if it's just a personal bias at play. the link between power and a need for sexual "conquest" is something i find very odd. i wonder why the two fall together so often. 0: https://memeburn.com/2011/09/early-facebook-app-developer-claims-hidden-agendas-killed-his-app/ https://memeburn.com/2011/09/early-facebook-app-developer-cl...
- simonsaidit 6y ago
  Fix for thre dead link of his original post: https://web.archive.org/web/20110924141857/http://public.numair.com/2011_fbfool.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110924141857/http://public.num...
supergirl 6y ago
this guy should start naming names if he really wants to help women. his post otherwise looks like a childish rant without any substance.
Icathian 6y ago
The article doesn't name any names or provide any evidence whatsoever. Just lots of vague threats, implications, and rhetoric. I would be willing to believe that there are endemic problems in this industry. But you're going to have to actually make an accusation, or you're just wasting everyone's time.
jbirer 6y ago
At our international startup, we avoid hiring women precisely because we are afraid of such accusations shall we ever decide to fire her or step piss them off in some way. The rape controversy and #metoo gets a lot of clicks, so I understand why so many articles emphasize it, but in my view there is simply no such epidemic going on in the real world.
- jtreminio 6y ago
  I think you missed a </sarcasm> tag somewhere.
- supergirl 6y ago
  that's literally illegal in Romania, where you are based, according to your posts. not sure if you thought you're being anonymous or just don't care that you advertise that your startup (which can also be found in your posts) is illegally discriminating women for hiring and you're proud of it.
  - jbirer 6y ago
    Is that a threat? Point proven...
- yerwhat01010 6y ago
  You know that your comment history includes a link to your CV, right? Are you sure this is the type of comment you want tied to your work history and real name?
kerng 6y ago
If any of this is true they should go to NYT or WSJ and get proper coverage for this. It's a little light on details, and uses the word "I" quite often. Curious to see if more comes out of this.
disgu 6y ago
This article is like 60% talking about how awesome the author is, 30% about how everyone should be as awesome as him and 10% accusing someone without naming them and without any evidence or anything. That's why you don't self-publish this stuff if you're an amateur. It throws under the bus anything worthwhile you might have had to say.
happytoexplain 6y ago
I'm seeing comments asserting that the telling of these experiences are "wasting everyone's time" and "a childish rant", but _only_ because they do not name names. That doesn't sound reasonable to me. Clearly writing about experiences has some value regardless of whether it's anonymized, and even more clearly, the angry attacks are disproportionate if the critics are saying they hinge entirely on that one difference.
- carmen_sandiego 6y ago
  Naming names to turn the wheels of justice is one way in which the piece could have value. I assume it’s the way people are gravitating towards partly because it’s otherwise so poorly written that it doesn’t have much prospect of argumentative or literary value.
ChrisArchitect 6y ago
Surprised this took 4 days to make it here....
FooBarBizBazz 6y ago
In this article, Numair Faraz says: 1. Person X offered him 0.1% of Facebook, but later screwed him out of it somehow. 2. Person X pulled up in his car next to an underaged girl riding a bicycle, and had sex with her without a condom (which, because she was underage, would be rape regardless of how willing she was or wasn't). 3. He (Numair Faraz) witnessed the rape, and convinced Person X to give the girl his phone number. 4. The girl later contacted Person X requesting money for medical services at Planned Parenthood (an abortion?), which Person X sent through an intermediary at the same company, who he reimbursed with a paper check. 5. He implies that it happened in a "faraway place", though presumably one in the United States, because Planned Parenthood was available there. Then in this thread pbiggar says it can be inferred that Person X is Sean Parker. I wish Numair had written these claims down in a straightforward manner, explaining exactly what happened, as I have attempted to do above, instead of writing in such an oblique and insinuating way. The latter style is becoming too common, and it makes it difficult to distinguish serious claims from vague character attacks. But Sean Parker was very rich at the time, and given what I know of the lives of the very-rich, especially the newly-very-rich -- say, of rock stars -- then it would not be too surprising. (Not to say anything about Sean Parker specifically; my only knowledge of him comes from The Social Network.) (Projecting the behavior of rockstar-founders-on-power-highs, onto rank-and-file SV engineers who are nowhere near these kinds of events, is something I would take issue with, but it's a small issue next to the factual claims.) So: It seems Numair Faraz has just publicly accused Sean Parker of statutory rape 15 years ago. Are there legal next steps?
simonsaidit 6y ago
Even more weird stuff that seems somewhat related he wrote back in 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171018143123/https://www.numair.com/culture/game-over https://web.archive.org/web/20171018143123/https://www.numai...
isomorph 6y ago
I submitted this to HN but I am not the author of this article. I have contacted a journalist and will keep trying until someone can authenticate the story.

76 points by isomorph 6y ago

> I also hope Facebook won’t claim that this guy “wasn’t working for us at the time,” when everyone knew he was simply operating in stealth mode (as board member Peter Thiel was quoted as saying years later, “I don’t think [he] ever really left.”) A google search for "i dont think [he] ever really left" [1] indicates that Peter Thiel was talking about Sean Parker when he said this. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=peter+thiel+%22I+don%E2%80%99t+think%22+%22ever+really+left%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=peter+thiel+%22I+don%E2%80%9...

roflc0ptic 6y ago

This lacks so many important details to make it seem credible. It reminds me of that old website, "Did [some famous right winger whose name I can't remember] rape and kill a woman in 1998?" which was intentionally designed to be substance-less. This just seems like it's trying to appear substantial without managing to do so. Or maybe it really reminds me of WWE. If you want to "catch people in lies", catch people in lies; don't just say that you're going to do it.

tzs 6y ago
> It reminds me of that old website, "Did [some famous right winger whose name I can't remember] rape and kill a woman in 1998?" which was intentionally designed to be substance-less. I believe this is what you are thinking of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck_v._Eiland-Hall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck_v._Eiland-Hall As Wikipedia notes, that actually was based on a joke from Gilbert Gottfried's segment in the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, where Gottfried repeatedly said that the rumors Saget had raped and killed a girl were false. That whole segment was quite funny: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2x1bwa https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2x1bwa Edit: fixed link to Gottfried's segment.

whymauri 6y ago

This person should probably find a reputable news source to tell their story to. Not to diminish the value of what they're writing and their mission, but some editorial guidance could be really useful. The post seems to be more about the author and how good they are than the core problem they're talking about. When he starts to discuss the core issue, it's vague and I honestly don't know what's going on.

frankfrankfrank 6y ago
I get the sense you may not be aware of the state of "news" these days. Let's say he does find a news organization that is interested in even touching this, it's likely that he will simply be lured into exclusivity agreements that then leads to the story being locked away to protect the depraved princes and dukes of Silicon Valley. Even if he finds some news or actual journalistic organization with some moderate reach that has not been totally compromised, the shadow censorship will totally suppress the story from even getting in front of anyone who is not already aware. In case the allusion was not sufficient; fact of the matter is that Silicon Valley, although not exclusive by any means, is one of the major epicenters of an emerging neo-aristocracy that becomes ever more drunk on its power, control, and abuses. For its own sake, the exponential network effects of the whole technology sector really needs to be shattered and scattered. We say "diversity is our greatest strength" like a mantra, but we practice centralization of power and control in ever fewer people … a self-important and self-perpetual aristocratic parasitic class. Maybe the ability to abuse will last centuries, as it lasted up until the American/French Revolution, but maybe it won't and the peasants will come to erase the whole aristocratic layer many of us belong to. I'd rather not find out.
- disgu 6y ago
  That's complete nonsense. There are plenty of good journalists out there. Of course no reputable one would publish this as there's no proof and it's mostly just the author talking about himself.
- fx32s 6y ago
  I'd like some evidence with all these conspiracy theories. Recent battles between news corps and silicon valley have shown they are on opposite sides if anything. There is no shortage of negative press regarding silicon valley.

keenreed 6y ago

Men get raped too, it is not gendered issue! Nobody ever asked me for a consent.

hasmolo 6y ago

this thing is interesting if it's Sean Parker that's being accused, note that this person has called Sean out personally a tome or two before[0]. sadly, all of this information feels true, but i don't know if it's just a personal bias at play. the link between power and a need for sexual "conquest" is something i find very odd. i wonder why the two fall together so often. 0: https://memeburn.com/2011/09/early-facebook-app-developer-claims-hidden-agendas-killed-his-app/ https://memeburn.com/2011/09/early-facebook-app-developer-cl...

simonsaidit 6y ago
Fix for thre dead link of his original post: https://web.archive.org/web/20110924141857/http://public.numair.com/2011_fbfool.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110924141857/http://public.num...

supergirl 6y ago

this guy should start naming names if he really wants to help women. his post otherwise looks like a childish rant without any substance.

Icathian 6y ago

The article doesn't name any names or provide any evidence whatsoever. Just lots of vague threats, implications, and rhetoric. I would be willing to believe that there are endemic problems in this industry. But you're going to have to actually make an accusation, or you're just wasting everyone's time.

jbirer 6y ago

At our international startup, we avoid hiring women precisely because we are afraid of such accusations shall we ever decide to fire her or step piss them off in some way. The rape controversy and #metoo gets a lot of clicks, so I understand why so many articles emphasize it, but in my view there is simply no such epidemic going on in the real world.

jtreminio 6y ago
I think you missed a </sarcasm> tag somewhere.
supergirl 6y ago
that's literally illegal in Romania, where you are based, according to your posts. not sure if you thought you're being anonymous or just don't care that you advertise that your startup (which can also be found in your posts) is illegally discriminating women for hiring and you're proud of it.
- jbirer 6y ago
  Is that a threat? Point proven...
yerwhat01010 6y ago
You know that your comment history includes a link to your CV, right? Are you sure this is the type of comment you want tied to your work history and real name?

kerng 6y ago

If any of this is true they should go to NYT or WSJ and get proper coverage for this. It's a little light on details, and uses the word "I" quite often. Curious to see if more comes out of this.

disgu 6y ago

This article is like 60% talking about how awesome the author is, 30% about how everyone should be as awesome as him and 10% accusing someone without naming them and without any evidence or anything. That's why you don't self-publish this stuff if you're an amateur. It throws under the bus anything worthwhile you might have had to say.

happytoexplain 6y ago

I'm seeing comments asserting that the telling of these experiences are "wasting everyone's time" and "a childish rant", but _only_ because they do not name names. That doesn't sound reasonable to me. Clearly writing about experiences has some value regardless of whether it's anonymized, and even more clearly, the angry attacks are disproportionate if the critics are saying they hinge entirely on that one difference.

carmen_sandiego 6y ago
Naming names to turn the wheels of justice is one way in which the piece could have value. I assume it’s the way people are gravitating towards partly because it’s otherwise so poorly written that it doesn’t have much prospect of argumentative or literary value.

ChrisArchitect 6y ago

Surprised this took 4 days to make it here....

FooBarBizBazz 6y ago

In this article, Numair Faraz says: 1. Person X offered him 0.1% of Facebook, but later screwed him out of it somehow. 2. Person X pulled up in his car next to an underaged girl riding a bicycle, and had sex with her without a condom (which, because she was underage, would be rape regardless of how willing she was or wasn't). 3. He (Numair Faraz) witnessed the rape, and convinced Person X to give the girl his phone number. 4. The girl later contacted Person X requesting money for medical services at Planned Parenthood (an abortion?), which Person X sent through an intermediary at the same company, who he reimbursed with a paper check. 5. He implies that it happened in a "faraway place", though presumably one in the United States, because Planned Parenthood was available there. Then in this thread pbiggar says it can be inferred that Person X is Sean Parker. I wish Numair had written these claims down in a straightforward manner, explaining exactly what happened, as I have attempted to do above, instead of writing in such an oblique and insinuating way. The latter style is becoming too common, and it makes it difficult to distinguish serious claims from vague character attacks. But Sean Parker was very rich at the time, and given what I know of the lives of the very-rich, especially the newly-very-rich -- say, of rock stars -- then it would not be too surprising. (Not to say anything about Sean Parker specifically; my only knowledge of him comes from The Social Network.) (Projecting the behavior of rockstar-founders-on-power-highs, onto rank-and-file SV engineers who are nowhere near these kinds of events, is something I would take issue with, but it's a small issue next to the factual claims.) So: It seems Numair Faraz has just publicly accused Sean Parker of statutory rape 15 years ago. Are there legal next steps?

simonsaidit 6y ago

Even more weird stuff that seems somewhat related he wrote back in 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171018143123/https://www.numair.com/culture/game-over https://web.archive.org/web/20171018143123/https://www.numai...

isomorph 6y ago

I submitted this to HN but I am not the author of this article. I have contacted a journalist and will keep trying until someone can authenticate the story.