When the Tech Industry Stands for Dignity
Last month, I wrote an open letter to IBM CEO Ms. Ginni Rometty announcing my resignation from the company. I did this as a direct response to her own very public letter offering support to the president-elect, ignoring his repeated threats to IBM’s diverse, global workforce.
First, a sincere thank you to everyone who read my letter and shared my story with others. I am truly thrilled it has resonated with a great number of you. I am even more thrilled that many others are resisting some of the most pernicious threats of the incoming Trump administration — and are being so loud about it!
At IBM, employees are protesting programs that violate civil liberties, such as the creation of a national Muslim registry. You can sign the petition here. Perhaps in response to employee action, media insistence and the pressure of direct letters sent by human rights organizations, IBM has finally publicly announced that they would not help with such a program. According to reporting from Buzzfeed, a spokesman from IBM said,
“No, IBM would not work on this hypothetical project. Our company has long-standing values and a strong track record of opposing discrimination against anyone on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. That perspective has not changed, and never will.”
The malleable quality of the word “hypothetical” here and the selective lens for this track record notwithstanding, the company’s public announcement does set a precedent for when such a program is up for contracts in the future. Now that Ms. Rometty has been selected for the president-elect’s business advisory council, IBM employees will surely be paying close attention.
And it’s way bigger than IBM
As evidenced by another action, workers from top companies around the world are refusing to participate in bigoted programs by signing a public pledge. Many signers have disclosed their roles and the companies they work for by name, demanding that their senior leadership know where they stand.
Over the course of the last month, threats to the safety of marginalized people have at times been dismissed as campaign rhetoric. This is chilling on its face, for sure, and dangerous as it suggests these threats can be ignored. In fact, they must be taken seriously. Technology leadership knows it has a role to play in the execution of such programs and must adhere to a standard of decency. The technology workers are using their voice to influence the ethics and operating principles of the businesses that employ them. For the safety and dignity of all, we can only hope their executives are listening.
I am excited about the momentum in fighting the use of technology to discriminate or endanger lives, and instead use it to press society to do better. I would love to hear more from you. You can reach me here or via email (hihielizabeth at gmail) to talk about your plans for moving forward.
