<story><title>The Most Dangerous Censorship</title><url>https://edwardsnowden.substack.com/p/on-censorship-pt-1</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>throwkeep</author><text>When I worked at a FAANG, anti-censorship and pro free speech was normative. What happened? Why have we let a small number of intolerant activists scare us into silence?</text></item><item><author>gentleman11</author><text>&amp;gt; For fear of losing a job, or of losing an admission to school, or of losing the right to live in the country of your birth, or merely of social ostracism, many of today&amp;#x27;s best minds in so-called free, democratic states have stopped trying to say what they think and feel and have fallen silent.&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of topics I won’t touch any more, more every year. Accounts - can’t stay anonymous, ml systems working around the clock to identify posters. My social justice focused friends have it worse, their online “friends” attack them publicly over every single little thing. They go quiet or form a tiny invite only groups to hide after an attempt to do something good that backfired because their skin is the wrong colour or they aren’t trans. They have panic attacks over the guilt and stress</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>btilly</author><text>Read &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;s3.documentcloud.org&amp;#x2F;documents&amp;#x2F;3914586&amp;#x2F;Googles-Ideological-Echo-Chamber.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;s3.documentcloud.org&amp;#x2F;documents&amp;#x2F;3914586&amp;#x2F;Googles-Ideol...&lt;/a&gt;.  Then read &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Google%27s_Ideological_Echo_Chamber&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Google%27s_Ideological_Echo_Ch...&lt;/a&gt; for what happened when a Google engineer wrote that.&lt;p&gt;Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Damore, he was engaged in free speech.  What he said is supported by a significant body of research and researchers.  (And opposed by others - as it often the case on controversial topics.)&lt;p&gt;And yet, he was fired and made an example of.  Anyone who publicly says that he had a point got shot down both within companies like Google, and on various discussion forums like this one.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t know how or when we lost tolerance for free speech, both as an industry and as a society.  But the Damore incident is when I realized that we have.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Most Dangerous Censorship</title><url>https://edwardsnowden.substack.com/p/on-censorship-pt-1</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>throwkeep</author><text>When I worked at a FAANG, anti-censorship and pro free speech was normative. What happened? Why have we let a small number of intolerant activists scare us into silence?</text></item><item><author>gentleman11</author><text>&amp;gt; For fear of losing a job, or of losing an admission to school, or of losing the right to live in the country of your birth, or merely of social ostracism, many of today&amp;#x27;s best minds in so-called free, democratic states have stopped trying to say what they think and feel and have fallen silent.&lt;p&gt;There are a lot of topics I won’t touch any more, more every year. Accounts - can’t stay anonymous, ml systems working around the clock to identify posters. My social justice focused friends have it worse, their online “friends” attack them publicly over every single little thing. They go quiet or form a tiny invite only groups to hide after an attempt to do something good that backfired because their skin is the wrong colour or they aren’t trans. They have panic attacks over the guilt and stress</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tick_tock_tick</author><text>College&amp;#x27;s changed; It used to be free speech focused with debates and exposure to a wide set of ideas being seen as critical to a well rounded education. Now you can&amp;#x27;t even get vaguely controversial speakers on campus.&lt;p&gt;Tech workers tend to be younger so the more recent changes to the political views of colleges effect them first.&lt;p&gt;Hell famous comedians won&amp;#x27;t even preform at college campuses anymore:
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cheatsheet.com&amp;#x2F;entertainment&amp;#x2F;jerry-seinfeld-reveals-why-he-cant-perform-stand-up-comedy-on-college-campuses-they-dont-know-what-the-hell-theyre-talking-about.html&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cheatsheet.com&amp;#x2F;entertainment&amp;#x2F;jerry-seinfeld-reve...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>