Re: Debian sever ties with Google?
On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 02:25:19PM +1000, Andrew Pollock wrote:
> On Fri, 31 Jan 2025 at 13:08, Roberto C. Sánchez <[1]roberto@debian.org>
> wrote:
>
> Since we as a project have left Twitter/X (as recently announced by our
> Publicity Team) on the basis of "We do not want to be present in a place
> where we cannot ensure that users will be respected and where abuse
> happens without consequences" [0] [1], I would like start a discussion
> about how we as a project can promptly sever ties with Google.
>
> Full disclosure: I am currently employed by Google, and do not speak for
> the company.
> DFSG #6 discusses not discriminating against fields of endeavour.
> I can see the project wishing to cut ties with a social media platform
> that is unable to ensure a minimum level of civil discourse. I'm not
> seeing how this is even remotely equivalent to disengaging from a
> corporate sponsor because of their commercial practices?
> regards
> Andrew
>
The formula I am applying here is directly:
"We do not want to be present in a place where we cannot ensure that
users will be respected and where abuse happens without consequences."
"We [Debian] do not want to be present in a place [on Twitter/X] where
we cannot ensure that users will be respected and where abuse happens
[causing certain people to feel unsafe] without consequences
[moderation/banning]."
It seems quite natural, then, that this follows:
"We [Debian] do not want to be present in a place [Google Cloud Platform
and other Google services] where we cannot ensure that users will be
respected and where abuse happens [directly assisting the US government
to prepare and execute missions that result in unconscionable civilian
casualties] without consequences [legal reprecussions]."
If the former results in leaving a social media platform, then the
latter should result in at least the same (leaving the platform and
services) and, I would argue, also calls for terminating the sponsor
relationship. To do otherwise would be to tacitly endorse things that
are objectively far worse than things we have *already* publicly stated
as a project we find reprehensible.
Regards,
-Roberto
--
Roberto C. Sánchez
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