Google’s former head of international relations, Ross Lajeunesse, lambasted Google over its treatment of human rights in a piece published on January 2nd. In the article, Lajeunesse details why he feels the American technology company places profits over people.
In a blog post titled “I Was Google’s Head of International Relations. Here’s Why I Left,” Lajeunesse writes about how the company’s stance changed throughout his 11-year employment, suggesting that the company had betrayed its motto of “don’t be evil.” Lajeunesse was hired in 2008, shifting to the organization from his position as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s deputy chief of staff, back when the actor was the governor of California.
Friction arose with Google’s involvement in the Chinese market. China’s internet is notoriously censored, and all corporations must comply with government requests if they want to operate in the country. Google obeyed, censoring specific terms from the search engine. Lajeunesse stated that Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin saw this as acceptable because the Chinese market was seeing more information than they were previously thanks to Google’s presence in the country. This changed in 2009 when the Chinese government tried to hack into the Gmail accounts of human rights advocates in the country.
Google gets Comfy with Human Rights Violators
The decision to cease cooperation with China frustrated executives in the company, but the issue had been tabled since the initial decision saw China’s government ceasing all communication with Google and cutting them from the market. It wasn’t until 2017 that Google had begun developing a search platform for China again. Lajeunesse raised concerns for the company’s interaction with a country routinely known for violating human rights and offered several times to start a team focused on human rights. Repeatedly he was shot down or deferred, under the guise that his concerns were understood and would be considered. Google’s workplace culture lead Lajeunesse to the conclusion that the company’s priority had shifted, citing a diversity exercise that served more to segregate minorities as opposed to building an understanding.
China has routinely treated The Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a list of suggestions. The nation’s government has been known to unfairly imprison or execute its critics and cherry-pick what its citizens can see online. The country has been at odds with Hong Kong over the past several months, a former British territory that has held onto its autonomy when it was returned to China. Governmental overstepping has led to riots in the territory. Many American corporations have opted to continue working with China due to the nation’s market size, placing the bottom line over human rights, and Google is no different.
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Source: Medium
