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Some Facebook Employees Are Quitting or Asking To Switch Departments Over Ethical Concerns (businessinsider.com)
Some dissatisfied Facebook engineers are reportedly attempting to switch divisions to work on Instagram or WhatsApp, rather than continue work on the platform responsible for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to a recent report from the New York Times. An anonymous reader writes: Many believe Facebook should have done more to handle the data responsibly, and the events that followed increased scrutiny against Facebook, reportedly taking a toll on employees working on the platform. Since the news came out, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg have spoken to the media on a few occasions, but it was days before the company commented on the scandal, which it now estimates around 87 million total users affected. Then, a leaked memo from Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth written in 2016 revealed a "growth at all costs" mentality that put Facebook in a position to be held responsible for the situation it's found itself in. As it became evident that Facebook's core product might be to blame, engineers working on it reportedly found it increasingly difficult to stand by what it built.
Perhaps the engineers succumbed to pressure from their friends or family. Or maybe they were outright threatened by activists.
No - I think it's ethical/moral reasons. They now feel like they got Trump elected and feel terrible about it. Of course they had no problem with this when their work got their political idols elected that was all fun and games and heroic.
It's infantile.
They had NO problem with this data collection and probably bought Zuckerberg's kool-aid ideology hook, line and sinker that they were making the world a better place with proper data analysis. Now they feel that this has become a weaponized technology and they want no part of it. If they REALLY cared about the abuses of data collection and misuse - they would be the ones to most know how to PREVENT and STOP it. They're leaving instead because they're disgusted with what they created.
In Silicon Valley, being the most SJW-infested place on Eath, anything that touches Trump is toxic. When FB is now seen as being directly responsible for the election of Trump, these people found themselves in danger of "never work in this town" by association. They are probably better off putting prison time on their resume that admitting they worked on FB.
I had a WhatsApp chat with my friend about news analysis software which I have not done anything with for years, and 30 minutes later I was seeing Facebook ads for news analysis software.
So Facebook is scanning my end to end encrypted chats, which is considerably worse than finding out I love gun toting puppy dogs.
Both of you miss the point:
These employees are mid-career and they know full well that lifetime employment is not a thing.
As they grow their vocation, they may have opportunities to move into security or finance or places that just like to have ethical ranks.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
The very reason why facebook existed from the beginning was to sell personal information. Why did they take a job with them if they were concerned about the ethics of doing that?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Facebook had ZERO to do with the outcome of the election. Not one Trump voter in the country is now thinking to themselves "wow, Facebook tricked me into voting for Trump!". All of these BS excuses are nothing but delusions to avoid facing the reality of being rejected.
Not one person in the US thinks, wow that Pepsi commercial made me want to drink a Pepsi. Yet people do drink Pepsi, and Pepsi continues to advertise.
No one thinks they're being influenced by ads, or political propaganda. Everyone thinks they're above that, but here's a secret: you are influenced by ads. You're at a store all it has is Pepsi, Coke, or Smith's off-brand cola and you want a cola... odds are very high you pick a Pepsi or a Coke because you're familiar with them- or if you do buy a Smith's it is because it is cheaper. Brand familiarity has made Pepsi or Coke more appealing.
Same happens with these political BS stories. Trump is kinda like Pepsi- he's always throwing his name out there to get publicity. This facebook campaign was like an expensive ad campaign (and ignored by financing laws). No-one, not one person, thinks they were influenced by the fake stories... but they probably think that whilst drinking a Coke or a Pepsi.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch