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Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade

businessinsider.com

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Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade

#31

Post by andrew_ »

hestefisk wrote: post #25
pacarvalho wrote: post #2

Tricky. Politics/societal/economic/etc issues such as this one are very important to be discussed. However, companies are a place for work. Talking to co-workers can be quite fulfilling and exciting when conversing about engineering, marketing, or other work related subjects you are passionate about. However, anytime politics, etc are brought up I (for one) leave the conversation feeling in a worse state of mind than…

It’s hard to segregate politics from other things in life. Politics influences most things in life - our work, our school, what we can and can’t do. If I follow your claim, then corporations shouldn’t take a stance on climate change either. Is that really right?

Only for people who accept that as fact, or who openly invite into every aspect of their lives. Before the internet it was not so common to air one's bullshit, if you will.

Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade

#34

Post by Flankk »

Mezzie wrote: post #23

Probably a wise decision, and not just because of conflicts between the different sides (I can't imagine there's a large pro-life contingent at Meta), but because of the dumpster fire that intra-political discussions have turned into. Some people feel like discussing this in anything other than emotional terms is inappropriate, some people feel like we need to discuss the legal theory and history behind what happened…

There's way too much emotion in politics these days. I would like to see a return of rational discourse. I've had my fill of both the screaming liberals and the dusty conservatives. Most of the complex issues deal with morality so it's probably all for naught. The tip of the morality pyramid is God for most people. No point using empirical evidence when you don't believe in it to begin with.

Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade

#35

Post by JKCalhoun »

nso95 wrote: post #5
spacexsucks wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Policy affects daily life. A stable daily life leads to a productive worker. Wanting stable work but not doing anything to support the workers life is the biggest most capitalistic thing too. Heartless and inhumane

Arguing about it on Slack isn't going to fix any of it though

It's venting. It's bonding with coworkers who also feel their world is collapsing.

Hard to focus on work, talk about the preso when, for example, people are storming our Capitol.

Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade

#36

Post by JKCalhoun »

s1k3 wrote: post #8

As it should be. Politics at work makes for untenable working conditions. Large enough companies will tend to have people deeply on both sides of the political spectrum. Encouraging or even allowing discussion on hot political issues is a recipe for disaster. It can ruin what we’re otherwise perfectly good working relationships.

Maybe this was true when it was Carter vs. Reagan or what(when)ever, but we live in very different times now where it has become impossible to ignore what is happening around us politically.

Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade

#37

Post by mjmsmith »

Mezzie wrote: post #23

Probably a wise decision, and not just because of conflicts between the different sides (I can't imagine there's a large pro-life contingent at Meta), but because of the dumpster fire that intra-political discussions have turned into. Some people feel like discussing this in anything other than emotional terms is inappropriate, some people feel like we need to discuss the legal theory and history behind what happened…

I could certainly imagine a larger pro-life contingent at Facebook than other tech companies.

Business Insider posted an article in 2019 on Facebook data showing that its "best-performing content is almost entirely from right- and far-right-wing publications and personalities" [1]

It's not entirely unlikely that in the intervening years, left-leaning employees have been more likely to leave, and right-leaning employees more likely to join.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-right-wing-echo-cha...

Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade

#40

Post by woodruffw »

snidane wrote: post #6
spacexsucks wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Policy affects daily life. A stable daily life leads to a productive worker. Wanting stable work but not doing anything to support the workers life is the biggest most capitalistic thing too. Heartless and inhumane

The company doesn't have the power to change politics like that, so there is no point in getting the company involved or pick sides. The only neutral solution is to ban political discussions in the workplace, same as it should be in schools. Any other way leads to a psychologically unsafe environment to work at, which definitely doesn't lead to a stable daily life and thus a productive worker.

Meta doesn’t have the power to change politics? Hasn’t the last two years of Section 230 handwringing focused squarely on their outsized influence over political discourse?
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