Live data from Hacker News

After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

latimes.com

101–110 of 841 posts

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't people pushing their own political agenda; this is a consequence of the political stance they took. When a company takes a political stance, they should be held accountable for it.

How is protesting against police brutality is same as protesting against ICE? That sounds like partisanship. If you support one issue then you will also have to support other issues.

Sure, and they're welcome to clarify how the police should be held accountable when applying force to citizens but should not be held accountable for applying force to non-citizens.

Or how certain human rights can be maintained for one group and not the other.

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't people pushing their own political agenda; this is a consequence of the political stance they took. When a company takes a political stance, they should be held accountable for it.

How is protesting against police brutality is same as protesting against ICE? That sounds like partisanship. If you support one issue then you will also have to support other issues.

ICE inflicts something that seems an awful lot like police brutality on a large number of people. The Kafkaesque horrorshow that legal asylum seekers are subjected to is one of them. The conditions in which they hold people, in general, is another.

The lies and high pressure tactics they use to force people to sign away their rights are also concerning.

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#103
post #14

What a bummer that workers are publicly demanding this, and (presumably) seeking press attention on it. I'm no fan of ICE – a very large percentage of my friends in the US are immigrants, and I generally want my country to be a welcoming one. ICE has certainly committed unethical and probably illegal acts (probably true of most federal agencies). But to expect that a _federal agency_ will be denied service from a pri…

> But to expect that a _federal agency_ will be denied service from a private entity, especially for essentially political reasons, is lunacy. Um, think you've got this backwards. Private entities shouldn't have to take on anyone they don't want as customers (for whatever reason - do you have to justify who you do or don't want in your livingroom?), but publicly-funded institutions shouldn't be able to deny service o…

That is true – businesses are legally allowed to refuse service to anyone (apart from protected classes like race or political affiliation, but that probably does not apply here). It's an important right, and probably many businesses would be more profitable and happy if they exercised that right more often.

It's still politically dangerous, and would earn a company a lot of enemies and mistrust (as well as some allies, though they may be the type to just ask for more, as others on this post have mentioned).

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#104
post #66

Corporations are people. If they don't act ethically, we can't expect people to act ethically. Ending a contract with an agency that runs concentration camps is good. Better, though, is to not accept any contracts with any government that runs concentration camps. Small steps are good. Big steps are better. PS: great fear from all paying customers that run concentration camps that an internet mob could separate them…

Your choice of language by saying "concentration camps" is unproductively hyperbolic and reminiscent of Nazis killing Jews in WW2. People found to have been here illegally are being kept in detention centers until deportation or trial. Nobody is getting gassed or burned in ovens.

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#105

I would have thought that the workers at GitHub would know as much as anyone that restricting access to one Git service would have a negligible impact on ICE. The real impact would be on GitHub themselves, as they would lose any opportunity to help guide policy or technology at ICE or any other government agency. It may feel better to watch and yell from the outside, and you may have the moral high ground in doing so…

The taxpayer/citizens should influence ICE/government. Not GitHub. Government should serve/fear the people, not corps. And people wonder why there is a military industrial complex.

I don't think encouraging a security department to keep working with a corporation would necessarily help stop the military/industrial complex.

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Edit: Removed “people are lazy”, poor choice of words) People feel despair, hence pushing on Github instead of the political process. I’m all for unconventional leverage, but Microsoft is a trillion dollar org and has shareholders; this isn’t some VC funded dual class share startup where the founder has a blank check to do whatever they want. Edit: Can’t give up on the political process, that’s where the change happ…

I think it's probably more that people have lost trust in the political proces and are pushing on private companies as a last resort to effect change.

[deleted]

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#107
post #6

Is GitHub a hug part of what ICE ... does? Personally I wouldn't want to work for a company actually detaining people, but call me terrible but I'm not sure I'd feel the same about letting them pay to host some code...

This is a genuine question. I want to immigrate to USA, but currently there is no easy way to immigrate to USA. On the contrary Canada has a fair immigration system that allowed me to stay, work and eventually be citizen. Why don't people push for a fair immigration system in USA instead of abolishing ICE? What exactly am I missing here?

Funny enough many on the right in the US want to change the US immigration rules to be more like Canada or Australia’s rules, ie admission is based on work and skills criteria more so than family ones. The left leaning people oppose this because of how it would de facto change the ethnic makeup of immigrants.

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#108
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Edit: Removed “people are lazy”, poor choice of words) People feel despair, hence pushing on Github instead of the political process. I’m all for unconventional leverage, but Microsoft is a trillion dollar org and has shareholders; this isn’t some VC funded dual class share startup where the founder has a blank check to do whatever they want. Edit: Can’t give up on the political process, that’s where the change happ…

Attributing this to laziness is absolutely wrong, IMO. The political process and system is deeply broken and people realise that they cannot make their voices heard through it. So they find alternatives.

Corrected.

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#109
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> appeal to authority is not a fallacy when the authority is indeed an expert. Sure it is. The point of the fallacy is that an argument should stand on its own merit, and has nothing to do with the person making it. Guess what - experts can be wrong too (e.g. hand washing).

What about hand-washing?

> What about hand-washing?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_reaction_to_Ignaz...

Re: After GitHub CEO backs Black Lives Matter, workers demand an end to ICE contract

#110
post #14

What a bummer that workers are publicly demanding this, and (presumably) seeking press attention on it. I'm no fan of ICE – a very large percentage of my friends in the US are immigrants, and I generally want my country to be a welcoming one. ICE has certainly committed unethical and probably illegal acts (probably true of most federal agencies). But to expect that a _federal agency_ will be denied service from a pri…

> But to expect that a _federal agency_ will be denied service from a private entity, especially for essentially political reasons, is lunacy. Um, think you've got this backwards. Private entities shouldn't have to take on anyone they don't want as customers (for whatever reason - do you have to justify who you do or don't want in your livingroom?), but publicly-funded institutions shouldn't be able to deny service o…

not exactly comparable, but business denial of service was the cause of action in masterpiece cakeshop, a colorado civil rights case that appealed up to scotus

conscientious objection is a different case where you can fulfill your legal obligations in a way that's compatible with your religious or moral obligations -- if we created legislation requiring businesses to serve government agencies, there might be an implied right moral objection where use of force is concerned

Post reply on HN