NEW: Amnesty International has announced a major protest campaign against Google's censored China search engine plan. The group will stage demonstrations Tuesday outside Google offices in US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, & Spain. theintercept.com/2018/11/26/goo…
Amnesty says the censored search engine - known as Dragonfly - would “irreparably damage internet users’ trust" in Google & “set a dangerous precedent for tech companies enabling rights abuses by governments.”
The group has launched a petition calling on Google CEO @SundarPichai to "drop the Dragonfly programme & publicly commit not to re-launch a search engine in China at the expense of human rights" + guarantee whistleblower protections. Petition is here: join.amnesty.org/page/34286/pet…
Amnesty also produced a satirical video as part of its campaign -- a mock Dragonfly recruitment advert seeking people with “great coding skills, five years experience, & absolutely no morals.”
Amnesty's @JoeWestby says: “This is a watershed moment for Google. As the world’s number one search engine, it should be fighting for an internet where information is freely accessible to everyone, not backing the Chinese govt’s dystopian alternative.” theintercept.com/2018/11/26/goo…
Update: Google employees have released a letter supporting @Amnesty's call for Dragonfly to be canceled. "We refuse to build technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable, wherever they may be," they say. Pressure mounts on @SundarPichai. theintercept.com/2018/11/26/goo…
Here's the full letter from the Google employees. "Google is too powerful not to be held accountable. We deserve to know what we’re building & we deserve a say in these significant decisions." medium.com/@googlersagain…
You can follow the Google employees protesting Dragonfly on this Twitter account: @DropDragonfly. A courageous move to be taking such a public stand against their bosses, not an easy thing to do. Big respect to them for speaking up!
Some 90 Google employees have now put their names to this open letter calling on the company to end the Dragonfly project, up from 11 this morning when it was first published. Courage is contagious! medium.com/@googlersagain…
200 Googlers have signed the letter now -- it's really extraordinary & I think unprecedented for so many to be taking a public stand in this way. Indicative of deepening dissatisfaction at the company over @SundarPichai's internal handling of Dragonfly. medium.com/@googlersagain…
Did a piece about today's events, with some background on the letter from Google employees. It's now been signed by more than 240 staff -- including managers & senior engineers -- an unprecedented rebuke to company bosses: theintercept.com/2018/11/27/hun…
Since last night 140 more Google employees have signed their names to the open letter calling on @SundarPichai to #DropDragonfly. It's now at 384. An incredible public revolt from staff, many in senior positions. Untenable for the company to ignore this. medium.com/@googlersagain…
