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posted by martyb on Friday September 14 2018, @09:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the now-searching-for-a-job dept.

Senior Google Scientist Resigns Over "Forfeiture of Our Values" in China

A senior Google research scientist has quit the company in protest over its plan to launch a censored version of its search engine in China.

Jack Poulson worked for Google's research and machine intelligence department, where he was focused on improving the accuracy of the company's search systems. In early August, Poulson raised concerns with his managers at Google after The Intercept revealed that the internet giant was secretly developing a Chinese search app for Android devices. The search system, code-named Dragonfly, was designed to remove content that China's authoritarian government views as sensitive, such as information about political dissidents, free speech, democracy, human rights, and peaceful protest.

After entering into discussions with his bosses, Poulson decided in mid-August that he could no longer work for Google. He tendered his resignation and his last day at the company was August 31.

He told The Intercept in an interview that he believes he is one of about five of the company's employees to resign over Dragonfly. He felt it was his "ethical responsibility to resign in protest of the forfeiture of our public human rights commitments," he said.

Poulson, who was previously an assistant professor at Stanford University's department of mathematics, said he believed that the China plan had violated Google's artificial intelligence principles, which state that the company will not design or deploy technologies "whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights."

He said that he was concerned not just about the censorship itself, but also the ramifications of hosting customer data on the Chinese mainland, where it would be accessible to Chinese security agencies that are well-known for targeting political activists and journalists.

In his resignation letter, Poulson told his bosses: "Due to my conviction that dissent is fundamental to functioning democracies, I am forced to resign in order to avoid contributing to, or profiting from, the erosion of protection for dissidents."

"I view our intent to capitulate to censorship and surveillance demands in exchange for access to the Chinese market as a forfeiture of our values and governmental negotiating position across the globe," he wrote, adding: "There is an all-too-real possibility that other nations will attempt to leverage our actions in China in order to demand our compliance with their security demands."

Are the ~5 resignations indicative of fierce internal opposition or beleaguered acquiescence within Google?

Previously: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal
Uproar at Google after News of Censored China Search App Breaks

Related: About a Dozen Google Employees Have Resigned Over Project Maven
"Don't be Evil" Disappearing From Google's Code of Conduct
Google Will Not Continue Project Maven After Contract Expires in 2019
Google Boots Open Source Anti-Censorship Tool From Chrome Store


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @02:27PM (21 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @02:27PM (#734834)

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/09/12/reddit-bans-r-greatawakening-the-main-subreddit-for-qanon-conspiracy-theorists/ [washingtonpost.com]

    I read that site (mostly for entertainment, but sometimes interesting info was pointed out) and there was zero violence promoted. In fact the theory there was always that anyone promoting violence in the name of "Q" would be a false flag so people were exceptionally careful about it there.

    The ban was 100% political censorship, which reddit is totally free to do, its just one more step down their path to obsolescence. Anyway, you can see the type of stuff that was being discussed here:

    https://voat.co/v/GreatAwakening [voat.co]
    https://voat.co/v/theawakening [voat.co]

    Starting Score:    0  points
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    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @02:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @02:56PM (#734852)

    Reddit tolerated a lot of shit for a long time and refused to ban subs. Somehow i just cant believe your claims of innocence. Either way reddit is a shithole so whatever.

  • (Score: 3, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday September 14 2018, @03:01PM (8 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday September 14 2018, @03:01PM (#734854) Journal

    Sign in and use a username, coward. What's the matter, are you afraid of getting doxxed?

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @03:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @03:15PM (#734860)

      Why? Nothing to be gained, and more to lose, by posting with a name on an informal news site.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @03:27PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @03:27PM (#734868)

      Are you planning on doxing all non-ACs or something?

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @03:44PM (5 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @03:44PM (#734872)

      What's the matter, afraid someone might post something you disagree with and not have a username and post history you can aggressively comb through?

      The only coward here is you. If SoylentNews has a problem with Anonymous posting, they can disable the feature. They can even just straight up integrate it with Facebook so you can all post with pictures of yourselves next to your comments.

      As long as Anonymous commenting is a usable feature here, it will be used. So quit your bitching and figure out how to argue against a point instead of a person.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @04:12PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @04:12PM (#734878)

        Woooooosh

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday September 14 2018, @04:46PM (3 children)

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday September 14 2018, @04:46PM (#734896) Journal

        Aaaaand there goes the point zooming over your tiny head at a leisurely Mach 3.4...

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:50PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:50PM (#734932)

          What was the point?

          • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @07:11PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @07:11PM (#734979)

            The point was Azuma is a moron who responds to everything with non sequitur, and wants everyone else to post with accounts so they can look just as stupid as he does.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:17PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:17PM (#734916)

    Here is the relevant quote for you

    “We are very clear in our site terms of service that posting content that incites violence, disseminates personal information, or harasses will get users and communities banned from Reddit."

    So it didn't have to be inciting actual violence. Passing personal info to doxx people is quite common amongst that crowd, along with harassing users and brigading in other subreddits to draw attention to themselves. I don't much care for Reddit, but as a massively popular website I 100% understand why they would go this route. Not only to promote a better community but also to prevent future liability.

    Whine about hypocrisy all you want, but I'll take a page from Uggo's book and say "tits or GTFO".

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:47PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @05:47PM (#734931)

      Passing personal info to doxx people is quite common amongst that crowd, along with harassing users and brigading in other subreddits to draw attention to themselves.

      Who is "that crowd"? "That crowd" is obsessed with false flags, literally everything is a false flag to them. They considered telling people not to do anything that looked like inciting violence, doxing, etc defending against a false flag and were quick to accuse anyone who tried as a false flagger. I've never seen a community more actively against that stuff.

      The point is anyone can join any reddit community and start doing this to get it banned... reddit has basically opened themselves up to a form of swatting. Unless the mods werent deleting those posts, or dealing with the issue in whatever way they are expected to, then there's no reason to blame the subreddit.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @06:20PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @06:20PM (#734943)

        The angry white males crowd that tend to populate such places. Since I never frequented the subreddit myself I can not speak from authority just statistical likelihood. Trump defenders tend to have a very narrow demographic.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @06:33PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @06:33PM (#734953)

          Seemed to be a lot of "older" (40+) women actually. Actually the only "Q person" I have ever met in person was an older woman.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @07:06PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @07:06PM (#734976)

    Yaaa, conspiracy bullshit wrapped up in a nice racist blanket. Not exactly winning material there, and I can imagine how awful the comments sections were under those stories.

    Humanity is shedding its tolerance for racism. It is a BIG hurdle but we'll get there. Too bad all the actually interesting informative articles are caught up in that shit storm, which would make sense from a false flag point of view, but then you should band together and moderate with a heavy hand. But for some reason the racist shitposting just never seems to get banned on subs like that. Hmmmmm

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @09:19PM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @09:19PM (#735070)

      Probably the same women who smear shit and blood all over the bathroom walls.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @09:48PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @09:48PM (#735090)

        Found the angry white male!

        Muh uppreshun! Muh rightz! TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP

        GIGO4EVA

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @10:20PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 14 2018, @10:20PM (#735108)

          Huh, I was saying thats who was on the Q anon reddit. It really is mostly grandmas.

  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Friday September 14 2018, @10:16PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Friday September 14 2018, @10:16PM (#735104)

    The ban was 100% political censorship, which reddit is totally free to do, its just one more step down their path to obsolescence.

    Wow thats crazy. Admittedly Reddit is a safe space for mentally ill and lots and lots and lots of pr0n. Its not a "everyman" discussion site like here or 4chan or voat, its only for nudie pix and crazy snowflakes.

    The Qanon stuff is a lot like Trump support itself, in that you just have to look at the quality of the opposition to know its worth supporting.

    Flat earth people are even more "wrong" than qanon people, therefore qanon getting banned is practically an admission of guilt that qanon stuff is true. Its a crazy shitty society like 80s USSR where stuff is untrusted unless low quality people are censoring it.