Thread by @jpanzer

My response to a Facebook recruiter today:

Hi Rob,

I'd like to take a moment to respond and explain why I'm not currently interested in an engineering position with Facebook, nor likely to ever be. /1

My hope is that you will convey this information to the hiring Engineering Managers you mentioned in your prior email of Aug 13.

Over the past few years, I've grown increasingly concerned about Facebook's inability to be trustworthy guardians of private information. /2

The recent slap on the wrist from the FTC for Facebook violating the terms of its prior consent agreement made it clear that there wasn't going to be any real penalty for Facebook for violating court orders regarding private information, which is unsettling. /3

But beyond the irresponsible guardianship of private data is the issue of active enabling of disinformation. /4

Mark Zuckerberg claimed he had made a mistake in 2016 by ridiculing the idea of election interference on his platform, apologized, and claimed he was turning over a new leaf: /5

“After the election, I made a comment that I thought the idea misinformation on Facebook changed the outcome of the election was a crazy idea. Calling that crazy was dismissive and I regret it. This is too important an issue to be dismissive.” /6

As it turns out, that is just words, and he's back to being dismissive. Last month, after Mark had a private meeting with Donald Trump, I discovered that he has decided to not just passively enable, but actively aid and abet, the spread of disinformation on his platform. /7

This month, it turns out that that this is actually happening, and Facebook is perfectly OK with it. [

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1181811559598825472?s=20

] In addition, Mark Zuckerberg has given speeches effectively disclaiming all responsibility as an advertising platform to prevent false advertising... /8

...to voters, even as he rakes in money from political campaigns (and, almost certainly, foreign countries) spreading political disinformation on his network. /9

This is irresponsible and dangerous to our democracy. I will not work for a company that takes that stance. Thus, there would be no point in us having a discussion about long-term possibilities. /10

(Unless, in the light of all of this, you are interested in new opportunities yourself, in which case, certainly please let me know.)

Regards,
John /11

See also my blog post on this subject: abstractioneer.org/2019/10/why-im…