Is the technology industry really prepared to stand up to Donald Trump?
The executive order signed by Donald Trump on January 25 entitled “Protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States” has led to the detention of people of all conditions at airports across the country, prompting strong opposition from many quarters, notably from within the technological industry.
At the moment, the measure has been partially paralyzed by a federal court, but this only prevents deportations, not the possibility that those affected may remain in detention. The situation is chaotic and is an assault on civil liberties by taking advantage of the legal status of customs facilities and border protection, where hundreds of people with their papers perfectly in order, with valid residence permits or even with visas or work permits have been detained, isolated from their families or fellow travelers for 16 hours, without access to lawyers and unable to use their electronic devices, which were further inspected for evidence of suspicious activities or attitudes in social networks.
The executive order signed by Donald Trump prevents the entry of anybody with Iranian, Iraqi, Libyan, Syrian, Somali, Sudanese or Yemeni passports for 90 days, suspends the entry of 120-day refugees and Syrian refugees indefinitely, and eliminates the protection of the Privacy Act for foreigners. Thanks to direct intervention by presidential advisers Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, the decision also affects people in possession of green cards. Even the vice-president, Mike Pence, opposed the so called “muslim ban” when he was the Governor of Indiana in 2015, and considered it against the Constitution in a tweet that has now been deleted.
Meanwhile, outside the international terminals of some airports there have been protest demonstrations against the measure, including a taxi driver strike that caused misunderstandings when Uber announced the elimination of its surge pricing at airports which was interpreted as taking advantage of the conflict. In reality, Uber is one of the companies that has announced special measures to protect those affected: affected drivers who cannot enter the country will continue to receive income from the company for three months so that they can continue to support their families. Airbnb has offered free accommodation on the properties it manages for those affected by the decree, and given that the move prevents several of his employees from entering the country, Jack Dorsey has been asked to delete Trump’s personal Twitter account.
Google claims to have more than 100 employees affected who have asked to return immediately to the country, and its co-founder, Sergey Brin, has personally participated in the demonstrations. The Game Developers Conference, which was taking place when the decree was announced, rallied delegates at airports. Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings has stated that “Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all. Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe.
Elon Musk tweeted: “The blanket entry ban on citizens from certain primarily Muslim countries is not the best way to address the country’s challenges,” adding in another: “Many people negatively affected by this policy are strong supporters of the US. They’ve done right, not wrong & don’t deserve to be rejected.”
Amazon’s response, which has been rated as weak by critics, issued a statement saying, “from its inception, Amazon has been committed to equal rights, tolerance and diversity, and we will always be.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other company executives have also issued statements condemning the move, as have Google’s Sundar Pichai, as well as Facebook through its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Other companies, such as Box.com, Salesforce, Stripe, eBay or The Mozilla Foundation are also expressing their disagreement with the executive order. Lyft has made a one million dollar donation to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and condemned Trump’s actions, and they are not the only ones following that path: ACLU, which was fundamental in the decision of the first federal judge rebuking the order and has sued the president for discrimination, is receiving a massive wave of donations. Besides that, other American companies, such as Starbucks, has offered to hire refugees.
At the international level, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, has issued a welcome to refugees who wish to go to Canada, a country where “diversity is our strength”, and has been photographed at an airport personally welcoming a Syrian family, while British Prime Minister Theresa May has been criticized following her visit to the United States and for refusing to criticize Trump’s move. Angela Merkel criticized Trump because “it is not justified to put people from a specific background or faith under general suspicion” to combat terrorism.” Other European leaders are starting to display some reactions.
The world must let Trump know that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated. When, in January 2012, the US government threatened to enact laws such as SOPA or PIPA, heavily restricting the internet network, the response was the most important boycott in the history of the web. What is happening now in the United States is much, much more serious: we are talking about the lives of people who have done absolutely nothing wrong, who are not terrorists, and who are being subjected to persecution for reasons that have nothing to do with religion, many of them are not even Muslim or do not practice their religion — and are guilty only of holding a passport from a particular country. The countries cited by Trump are not even those where terrorists have come from before, and specifically exclude those where the president has economic interests.
In just one week, Trump has made it clear what kind of leader he is: a pathetic loudmouthed showman, who far from fixing his country’s problems, is making them much worse. The technology industry is responding to Trump’s measures as is logical, given that when many of the founders of the most important companies in this sector are immigrants or descended from them; but it is not enough. From an initial ambivalence, now the tech industry seems to be turning to anger. We have to be more forceful, we have to go beyond words and open letters. It is necessary to take truly committed measures, which make it clear that our opposition to barbarism goes beyond mere indignation or tweets.
The social networks are useful up to a point, but it is essential to go further. Trump’s actions are so serious that they deserve an explicit UN reprobation that includes international diplomatic sanctions. Trump’s actions openly violate human rights and dignity, in exchange for no one knows exactly what, simply for the greater glory of a pathetic and dangerous character. The document above is not a decree to protect anything or anyone, it is a disgrace and completely unacceptable in a civilized country. In Europe we saw once a drift similar to this and it cost us dearly. This must be stopped now.
(En español, aquí)
