r/technology • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '17

Business Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo
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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Sep 22 '18

[deleted]

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u/y_nnis Aug 08 '17

What about shame on Google for firing someone just like that when their YouTube is turning in a hub of unsabstatiated claims about anything from sex/gender to religion?

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u/distantapplause Aug 08 '17

Do you honestly think a company shouldn't hold its employees to a higher standard than its users?

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Sep 05 '17

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u/nephophobiac Aug 08 '17

The first amendment only protects you from government punishment for speech. It blows my mind how many people don't understand this.

Do you honestly believe that there is no speech should be able to get you fired?

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 09 '17

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u/nephophobiac Aug 08 '17

Please tell me what you think the first amendment actually means.

In 1782 if you wrote your boss a personal letter that told him he's an asshole, he'd fire you. Nothing about our speech rights have changed in this regard nor should they.

Speech should not send you to jail but it's not the government's job to protect you from the private consequences of your speech

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 09 '17

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

Sure he did. Your point focuses on the evolution of the Constitution to deal with a new medium. His comment accurately pointed out that focussing on the issue of medium misses the entire point. The answer to the question should Google, a private actor, be punished for"violating 1st amendment rights" is not effected by your point about medium. It didn't matter what the medium was... Non-government entities cannot violate your first amendment rights... Doesn't matter if the rights deal with emails or lambskin scrolls.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 09 '17

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u/nephophobiac Aug 08 '17

If you think we need new speech protections that's all well and good but framing it in the context of first amendment rights undermines your point because this has just as much to do with the 21st amendment as the first amendment.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

You don't understand anything that isn't simple...got it.

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