Headline USAPolitics

Software engineer, 28, resigns from Facebook because the company ‘profits off hate’

[ad_1]

Engineer, 28, resigns from Facebook because they can ‘no longer stomach contributing to an organization profiting off hate’ and blasts the site for not removing Trump’s ‘looting and shooting’ post

  • Ashok Chandwaney, 28, a software engineer for Facebook, resigned on Tuesday 
  • Chandwaney said they could no longer work for a company that ‘profits off hate’
  • In a resignation letter, Chandwaney criticized Facebook’s response to the rise of racism and incitements to violence on the social media platform from groups 
  • Chandwaney said Facebook failed to remove a militia group’s event encouraging people to bring guns to protests in Kenosha after police shooting of Jacob Blake
  • Chandwaney also criticized the company’s policy that allows politicians to make false claims in campaign ads without fear of having them fact-checked 

A software engineer resigned from Facebook Tuesday morning because they could ‘no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate’.

Ashok Chandwaney, 28, who is non-binary and uses ‘they’ and ‘them’ as pronouns, posted a nearly 1,300-word resignation letter on Facebook’s internal employee network because they felt it was time to take a stand. 

‘I’m quitting because I can no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate in the US and globally,’ Chandwaney wrote in the letter that was obtained by The Washington Post

Chandwaney said that Facebook is more concerned with profits than promoting social good. 

Software engineer, Ashok Chandwaney (pictured), 28, resigned from Facebook Tuesday morning because they could 'no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate'

Software engineer, Ashok Chandwaney (pictured), 28, resigned from Facebook Tuesday morning because they could ‘no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate’

Chandwaney cited the rise of racism and incitements to violence on the social media platform from members of the Boogaloo Bois (example pictured) and QAnon

Chandwaney cited the rise of racism and incitements to violence on the social media platform from members of the Boogaloo Bois (example pictured) and QAnon

The boogaloo movement is a far-right anti-government extremist movement and has oftentimes been described as a militia. QAnon (demonstrator pictured) is a conspiracy theory that has undertones of antisemitism and xenophobia

The boogaloo movement is a far-right anti-government extremist movement and has oftentimes been described as a militia. QAnon (demonstrator pictured) is a conspiracy theory that has undertones of antisemitism and xenophobia

Chandwaney said that Facebook failed to remove a militia group’s event encouraging people to bring guns to protests in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Kyle Rittenhouse who shot dead two BLM protesters in Kenosha is pictured (left) on August 25

Chandwaney said that Facebook failed to remove a militia group’s event encouraging people to bring guns to protests in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Kyle Rittenhouse who shot dead two BLM protesters in Kenosha is pictured (left) on August 25 

They cited the rise of racism and incitements to violence on the social media platform from members of the Boogaloo Bois and QAnon.

The boogaloo movement is a far-right anti-government extremist movement and has oftentimes been described as a militia. QAnon is a conspiracy theory that has undertones of antisemitism and xenophobia.

More specifically, Chandwaney cited the company’s role in fueling genocide in Myanmar and violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, according to the Post. 

Chandwaney said that Facebook failed to remove a militia group’s event encouraging people to bring guns to protests in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. 

During one of the protests, last month, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, shot dead two Black Lives Matter protesters, according to police. He has since been charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide. 

Ahead of the fatal shootings, Facebook didn’t remove the militia group’s event despite complaints. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it an ‘operational mistake’. 

Ahead of the fatal shootings, Facebook didn't remove the militia group's event despite complaints. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) called it an 'operational mistake'

Ahead of the fatal shootings, Facebook didn’t remove the militia group’s event despite complaints. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) called it an ‘operational mistake’

Chandwaney also said they were hoping Facebook would have removed President Donald Trump's 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts' post but the company left it up instead. Trump shared the post on Facebook and Twitter

Chandwaney also said they were hoping Facebook would have removed President Donald Trump’s ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’ post but the company left it up instead. Trump shared the post on Facebook and Twitter 

Zuckerberg responded to criticism over the decision to leave Trump's post on the site in a Facebook post (pictured)

Zuckerberg responded to criticism over the decision to leave Trump’s post on the site in a Facebook post (pictured)

Chandwaney also told the Post that they were hoping Facebook would have removed President Donald Trump’s ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’ post and take recommendations from the civil rights group that demanded an advertising boycott under the hashtag #StopHateForProfit. 

‘There have been so many comments that have been PR fluff rather than substantive,’ Chandwaney told the Post. 

Chandwaney also criticized the company’s policy that allows politicians to make false claims in campaign ads without fear of having them fact-checked. 

‘Allowing lies in election ads is pretty damaging, especially in the current political moment we’re in,’ they told the newspaper. 

Despite Chandwaney’s claims along those from other employees who have quit in recent months over similar issues, Facebook spokeswoman, Liz Bourgeois, said: ‘We don’t benefit from hate.’

Bourgeois told the Post that Facebook invests ‘billions of dollars each year to keep our community safe and are in deep partnership with outside experts to review and update our policies’. 

She said that Facebook even launched an ‘industry leading policy to go after QAnon, grew our fact-checking program, and removed millions of posts tied to hate organizations — over 96 per cent of which we found before anyone reported them to us’.

[ad_2]

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *