YouTube’s Transgender Problem
The tech platform excludes even personal experience that challenges transgender orthodoxy.
Kristen Waggoner
National Review Online
In our information age, companies such as Google and YouTube allow ideas to spread more quickly and farther than our ancestors would have thought possible. But there is a dark side to the information age. A small but significant minority — those who own social-media sites that all of us rely on — can dictate what viewpoints, ideas, and even facts to hide from the public.
That is exactly what happened last week, when YouTube pulled down a Heritage Foundation video that featured Walt Heyer, who used to identify as a transgender woman, sharing his personal experience. Heyer underwent hormone treatments and surgeries in his quest to become female. He eventually realized that even the most extreme medical interventions could not address his gender dysphoria. He de-transitioned and now encourages gender-confused individuals to make peace with their biology rather than undergo irreversible surgeries.
In the video, Heyer told an audience about the heartbreaking regret he continues to experience from his decisions.
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 July 2020
Tuesday, 11 June 2019
David V. Goliath
Google Can’t Dodge the Bullets
Conservative Employees’ Discrimination Lawsuit to Proceed
Allum Bokhari
Breitbart News
This should prove to be an interesting case. It certainly won't do any harm to the gathering storm clouds coalescing and calling for the break up of those tech giants which have increasingly seen themselves as obligated to pursue their particular brand of nirvana. . . Ed
Google must face a class-action lawsuit brought by Republican attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon on behalf of the tech giant’s conservative employees, according to a California court. Current and former Google employees say in a lawsuit that the company discriminates against non-progressives on the basis of their viewpoint, and against whites, Asians, and males on the basis of sex and race.
Google attempted to have the case dismissed. But a judge in California, where political discrimination is illegal, ruled against the company. The case will now move to a legal process known as discovery — meaning that Google must provide Dhillon and other attorneys working on the case access to its internal documents.
This is potentially a huge problem for the tech giant, as previous leaks of internal documents and video have repeatedly exposed the company’s extreme political bias.
The case was sparked by the firing of James Damore in 2017 after he wrote an internal memo — subsequently leaked to the press by leftists within the company — calling for more political diversity at the company. After Damore initiated legal proceedings, other former Google employees joined the class-action lawsuit. Damore has since exited the case and entered arbitration, but the case will still proceed on behalf of the other plaintiffs.
“This ruling is a significant step forward for all California workers, and sends notice to Silicon Valley that discrimination of any kind will not escape legal scrutiny,” said Dhillon in a statement. “It is illegal in California to discriminate against an employee for his or her legally protected characteristics, and we are excited to move forward with discovery into Google’s challenged employment practices that our clients allege discriminate on the basis of political orientation, race, and gender.”
Dhillon, whose lawsuit challenges one of the wealthiest and most powerful technology companies in the world, says her case has been made possible by small contributions from individual donors.
Testimony obtained from Google employees by Breitbart News has previously exposed the company’s discriminatory treatment of employees who question progressive narratives at the company. One described “constant abuse, sneers, insults, and smears” combined with a “learned helplessness because you know your abusers are supported by management.”
Internal material released as part of Dhillon’s lawsuit also revealed widespread racism and sexism at the company, as well as tacit support for Antifa, a far-left political movement that encourages violence against Republicans and Trump supporters.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter, Gab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to allumbokhari@protonmail.com.
Conservative Employees’ Discrimination Lawsuit to Proceed
Allum Bokhari
Breitbart News
This should prove to be an interesting case. It certainly won't do any harm to the gathering storm clouds coalescing and calling for the break up of those tech giants which have increasingly seen themselves as obligated to pursue their particular brand of nirvana. . . Ed
Google must face a class-action lawsuit brought by Republican attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon on behalf of the tech giant’s conservative employees, according to a California court. Current and former Google employees say in a lawsuit that the company discriminates against non-progressives on the basis of their viewpoint, and against whites, Asians, and males on the basis of sex and race.
Google attempted to have the case dismissed. But a judge in California, where political discrimination is illegal, ruled against the company. The case will now move to a legal process known as discovery — meaning that Google must provide Dhillon and other attorneys working on the case access to its internal documents.
This is potentially a huge problem for the tech giant, as previous leaks of internal documents and video have repeatedly exposed the company’s extreme political bias.
The case was sparked by the firing of James Damore in 2017 after he wrote an internal memo — subsequently leaked to the press by leftists within the company — calling for more political diversity at the company. After Damore initiated legal proceedings, other former Google employees joined the class-action lawsuit. Damore has since exited the case and entered arbitration, but the case will still proceed on behalf of the other plaintiffs.
“This ruling is a significant step forward for all California workers, and sends notice to Silicon Valley that discrimination of any kind will not escape legal scrutiny,” said Dhillon in a statement. “It is illegal in California to discriminate against an employee for his or her legally protected characteristics, and we are excited to move forward with discovery into Google’s challenged employment practices that our clients allege discriminate on the basis of political orientation, race, and gender.”
Dhillon, whose lawsuit challenges one of the wealthiest and most powerful technology companies in the world, says her case has been made possible by small contributions from individual donors.
Testimony obtained from Google employees by Breitbart News has previously exposed the company’s discriminatory treatment of employees who question progressive narratives at the company. One described “constant abuse, sneers, insults, and smears” combined with a “learned helplessness because you know your abusers are supported by management.”
Internal material released as part of Dhillon’s lawsuit also revealed widespread racism and sexism at the company, as well as tacit support for Antifa, a far-left political movement that encourages violence against Republicans and Trump supporters.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter, Gab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to allumbokhari@protonmail.com.
Saturday, 20 January 2018
The Cheka Lives On
Google: Toxic and Censorial
It would seem that Google has a toxic work environment. At one level, this may be surprising; at another, not so much. For years we have been "blessed" with storied accounts of how laid back, chilled, yet incandescently creative the company's work environment was. It was a cool, cool, cool place to work. The coolest place in Silicon Valley.
The idea of an 8.00am to 5.00pm work day was long gone. Encouraging creativity, lateral thinking, working outside the box, and having fun was all the rage. But now Google has unmasked itself. Underneath the appearance of free, lateral thinking lies the truth: Google is closer to replicating Soviet Russia at its worst. Its work culture has now been labelled toxic.
It would seem that Google has a toxic work environment. At one level, this may be surprising; at another, not so much. For years we have been "blessed" with storied accounts of how laid back, chilled, yet incandescently creative the company's work environment was. It was a cool, cool, cool place to work. The coolest place in Silicon Valley.
The idea of an 8.00am to 5.00pm work day was long gone. Encouraging creativity, lateral thinking, working outside the box, and having fun was all the rage. But now Google has unmasked itself. Underneath the appearance of free, lateral thinking lies the truth: Google is closer to replicating Soviet Russia at its worst. Its work culture has now been labelled toxic.
Employees at Google used internal company message boards to advocate political violence, recruit for a hard-line left-wing activist group and even propose public "trials" for ideological opponents, documents filed in court suggest.Now, all this might seem to be free-spirited debate--a bit like London's Hyde Park, or the Agora in ancient Athens. But consider: a Google employee was fired for "perpetuating gender stereotypes". So, not so "free-spirited" after all. As we have seen many times before, the Left lacks sophistication and subtlety in its position and argumentation: shouting down the opponent is a hallmark of an empty mind.
The nearly 100 pages of internal emails and message board postings are contained in a class-action lawsuit filed by former employee James Damore in California on Monday, accusing Google of discriminating against white people, men and conservatives. Damore was the author of a controversial internal memo criticising the tech giant's "politically correct" diversity policies. He was sacked last year for "perpetuating gender stereotypes" after the memo was leaked to the media and went viral.
Screenshots of messages attached to the complaint show Google employees attacking conservatives and white people, advocating political violence and even sharing "how-to" guides to join Antifa, a violent left-wing anarchist group reportedly classified as "domestic terrorists" by US Homeland Security. "Get in touch with your friendly local Antifa," one employee wrote in response to an anonymous thread in January 2017 titled "Whelp, guess it might be time for revolution", in which the questioner asked, "How do people cope with this? I've never been part of a military or war effort before, I guess I can be useful as IT support or for hacking." [NZ Herald]
Friday, 19 January 2018
Exposed!
Google’s Culture of Ignorant Intolerance
Social-justice warriors dominate a leading tech company.
By David French
National Review Online
Let’s ponder a disturbing question: What if the crisis of free speech on college campuses, with their often extreme intolerance for conservative points of view, represents the high point for free expression in a student’s life? In other words, what if the “real world” is more repressive, more ignorant, and more punitive toward dissenting speech? What if entire corporations adopt the ideologies and norms of the most ruthless campus social-justice warriors, ruining careers and depriving employees of their livelihoods when those employees dissent from the dominant ideology?
In other words, what if the rest of corporate America starts acting like Google?
Yesterday former Google employee James Damore filed a class-action lawsuit against Google, alleging systematic race, gender, and political bias against white, male, and conservative employees. Damore, you may recall, was summarily terminated after writing a lengthy memorandum noting that disproportionate male representation in tech fields may be more the result of individual choice and innate differences between men and women than of invidious discrimination. He also suggested some non-discriminatory methods for increasing diversity at Google. Scientists argued about his conclusions — some agreed with Damore, others vigorously disagreed — but rather than engage with Damore, Google proved one of his points (that Google is hostile to dissenting views) by summarily terminating his employment.
Damore has now answered Google with a legal broadside, and it’s extraordinary.
Social-justice warriors dominate a leading tech company.
By David French
National Review Online
Let’s ponder a disturbing question: What if the crisis of free speech on college campuses, with their often extreme intolerance for conservative points of view, represents the high point for free expression in a student’s life? In other words, what if the “real world” is more repressive, more ignorant, and more punitive toward dissenting speech? What if entire corporations adopt the ideologies and norms of the most ruthless campus social-justice warriors, ruining careers and depriving employees of their livelihoods when those employees dissent from the dominant ideology?
In other words, what if the rest of corporate America starts acting like Google?
Yesterday former Google employee James Damore filed a class-action lawsuit against Google, alleging systematic race, gender, and political bias against white, male, and conservative employees. Damore, you may recall, was summarily terminated after writing a lengthy memorandum noting that disproportionate male representation in tech fields may be more the result of individual choice and innate differences between men and women than of invidious discrimination. He also suggested some non-discriminatory methods for increasing diversity at Google. Scientists argued about his conclusions — some agreed with Damore, others vigorously disagreed — but rather than engage with Damore, Google proved one of his points (that Google is hostile to dissenting views) by summarily terminating his employment.
Damore has now answered Google with a legal broadside, and it’s extraordinary.
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