On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 02:25:19PM +1000, Andrew Pollock wrote: > On Fri, 31 Jan 2025 at 13:08, Roberto C. Sánchez <[1]robe...@debian.org> > wrote: > > Since we as a project have left Twitter/X (as recently announced by our > Publicity Team) on the basis of "We do not want to be present in a place > where we cannot ensure that users will be respected and where abuse > happens without consequences" [0] [1], I would like start a discussion > about how we as a project can promptly sever ties with Google. > > Full disclosure: I am currently employed by Google, and do not speak for > the company. > DFSG #6 discusses not discriminating against fields of endeavour. > I can see the project wishing to cut ties with a social media platform > that is unable to ensure a minimum level of civil discourse. I'm not > seeing how this is even remotely equivalent to disengaging from a > corporate sponsor because of their commercial practices? > regards > Andrew > The formula I am applying here is directly:
"We do not want to be present in a place where we cannot ensure that users will be respected and where abuse happens without consequences." "We [Debian] do not want to be present in a place [on Twitter/X] where we cannot ensure that users will be respected and where abuse happens [causing certain people to feel unsafe] without consequences [moderation/banning]." It seems quite natural, then, that this follows: "We [Debian] do not want to be present in a place [Google Cloud Platform and other Google services] where we cannot ensure that users will be respected and where abuse happens [directly assisting the US government to prepare and execute missions that result in unconscionable civilian casualties] without consequences [legal reprecussions]." If the former results in leaving a social media platform, then the latter should result in at least the same (leaving the platform and services) and, I would argue, also calls for terminating the sponsor relationship. To do otherwise would be to tacitly endorse things that are objectively far worse than things we have *already* publicly stated as a project we find reprehensible. Regards, -Roberto -- Roberto C. Sánchez
