4 ms·

I know it would be inflammatory, but I can think of an extremely provocative Google doodle "cartoon" that would put the cat amongst the pigions and make a state

by junto 12y ago

I know it would be inflammatory, but I can think of an extremely provocative Google doodle "cartoon" that would put the cat amongst the pigions and make a statement about Google's position on free speech in this particular matter.

RadioactiveMan 12y ago
If a cartoon puts Google employees in a position where they could be targeted by threats or violence, it would be an awful move.
- JumpCrisscross 12y ago
  Agree. Charlie Hebdo was a small shop. Everyone understood what was happening and had visibility into what was going to be done. Charlie Hebdo could take risks with its team because they were so close to each other. Google's senior management taking that decision on behalf of its vast and global team may be less tenable.
  - nailer 12y ago
    There's already an Isis message published to their followers to find and kill staff of another Silicon Valley tech giant for percieved slights. So the threat wouldn't be new, but taking a stand publicly would.
- eterm 12y ago
  It would be a bad idea for reasons mentioned upthread. It would not be a bad idea because of the reasons you mention. You are saying "Let's give in to violence and intimidation". You are suggesting that free speech should not be exercised if there is any threat or violence. That is not free speech.
  - peeters 12y ago
    > You are saying "Let's give in to violence and intimidation". It's not "giving in" when you would never do something like that in the first place (without the threat of violence). It's just continuing to not do it.
  - RadioactiveMan 12y ago
    Free speech doesn't require antagonizing anyone. I don't advocate censoring ourselves out of fear, but I wouldn't defend sticking our tongues out at a bully, even if we're on the moral high ground. We would be better served by expressing ourselves in ways that promote understanding other cultures, not widening the divide between them.
sho_hn 12y ago
Google's homepage isn't a satire magazine, and this would affect users who had no hand in these events. I don't think an escalation of adversity like that would be productive. The right to free speech doesn't justify bad manners.
- manticore_alpha 12y ago
  Are you implying that the cartoons were "bad manners"
- sampo 12y ago
  > The right to free speech doesn't justify bad manners. Yet it protects your rights to have bad manners.
  - sho_hn 12y ago
    > Yet it protects your rights to have bad manners. Absolutely. Here's my idle thoughts, more broadly: I'm not a Muslim. I'm very wary of a breakdown in empathy towards Muslims. There's 1.5 billion of them on our planet, and any outcome other than figuring out how to continue to live together on it seems bleak and undesirable. It's easier to have a dialog with someone (even to the point of changing their minds) if you can be bothered to think a little about how their upbringing and the parameters of their situation affect them, and how those find expression in their lives - what drives their decisions, how they wind up ranking and navigating the same basic human desires we share. Putting that cartoon on Google's homepage, to me, would be giving up on that, being lazy and picking sides. It's admitting defeat by deciding the world is simpler to act in if we don't bother to understand it. It also makes it harder for people in bridging positions to function as a channel for this dialog. The bilinguals, the overseas students, that interact with friends and family, that try to explain but end up having to justify cold shoulders. Check out some indie student music from Arabic countries some time. There's some on YouTube with English translations. Notice all the grappling with their own religion they do, or with gender roles in their society. These aren't dumb, unaware people. Heck, they're even capable and appreciative of good satire.
    - 12y ago

by junto 12y ago

RadioactiveMan 12y ago

If a cartoon puts Google employees in a position where they could be targeted by threats or violence, it would be an awful move.

JumpCrisscross 12y ago
Agree. Charlie Hebdo was a small shop. Everyone understood what was happening and had visibility into what was going to be done. Charlie Hebdo could take risks with its team because they were so close to each other. Google's senior management taking that decision on behalf of its vast and global team may be less tenable.
- nailer 12y ago
  There's already an Isis message published to their followers to find and kill staff of another Silicon Valley tech giant for percieved slights. So the threat wouldn't be new, but taking a stand publicly would.
eterm 12y ago
It would be a bad idea for reasons mentioned upthread. It would not be a bad idea because of the reasons you mention. You are saying "Let's give in to violence and intimidation". You are suggesting that free speech should not be exercised if there is any threat or violence. That is not free speech.
- peeters 12y ago
  > You are saying "Let's give in to violence and intimidation". It's not "giving in" when you would never do something like that in the first place (without the threat of violence). It's just continuing to not do it.
- RadioactiveMan 12y ago
  Free speech doesn't require antagonizing anyone. I don't advocate censoring ourselves out of fear, but I wouldn't defend sticking our tongues out at a bully, even if we're on the moral high ground. We would be better served by expressing ourselves in ways that promote understanding other cultures, not widening the divide between them.

sho_hn 12y ago

Google's homepage isn't a satire magazine, and this would affect users who had no hand in these events. I don't think an escalation of adversity like that would be productive. The right to free speech doesn't justify bad manners.

manticore_alpha 12y ago
Are you implying that the cartoons were "bad manners"
sampo 12y ago
> The right to free speech doesn't justify bad manners. Yet it protects your rights to have bad manners.
- sho_hn 12y ago
  > Yet it protects your rights to have bad manners. Absolutely. Here's my idle thoughts, more broadly: I'm not a Muslim. I'm very wary of a breakdown in empathy towards Muslims. There's 1.5 billion of them on our planet, and any outcome other than figuring out how to continue to live together on it seems bleak and undesirable. It's easier to have a dialog with someone (even to the point of changing their minds) if you can be bothered to think a little about how their upbringing and the parameters of their situation affect them, and how those find expression in their lives - what drives their decisions, how they wind up ranking and navigating the same basic human desires we share. Putting that cartoon on Google's homepage, to me, would be giving up on that, being lazy and picking sides. It's admitting defeat by deciding the world is simpler to act in if we don't bother to understand it. It also makes it harder for people in bridging positions to function as a channel for this dialog. The bilinguals, the overseas students, that interact with friends and family, that try to explain but end up having to justify cold shoulders. Check out some indie student music from Arabic countries some time. There's some on YouTube with English translations. Notice all the grappling with their own religion they do, or with gender roles in their society. These aren't dumb, unaware people. Heck, they're even capable and appreciative of good satire.
  - 12y ago