Silicon Valley Struggles to Add Conservatives to Its Ranks
Silicon Valley Struggles to Add Conservatives to Its
Ranks
Some tech employees say their politics are unwelcome in
an industry dominated by liberal views
Google employees demonstrate in January against President
Donald Trump's order on immigration. PHOTO: ZUMAPRESS.COM
By Deepa Seetharaman, Yoree Koh and Georgia Wells Dec. 1,
2017 9:00 a.m. ET
This summer, Twitter Inc.’s new diversity chief met
employees to discuss whether they felt welcome at work. Among those who said
they sometimes felt excluded, according to people familiar with the matter:
conservatives.
The feedback reflects the strains in Silicon Valley as
technology companies seek to bolster diversity of all kinds among their
hundreds of thousands of employees. For the mostly left-leaning companies, that
includes cultivating ideological diversity just as they are trying to with
underrepresented groups like women and minorities.
“There is a lot happening in the world, and we need
inclusion now more than ever,” Twitter’s diversity chief, Candi
Castleberry-Singleton, tweeted in August.
Companies such as Facebook Inc. and Google say doing so
is important because their billions of users globally have a broad range of
views and interests. And the perception that employee biases could seep into
their products could damage their reputations. Tech executives who advocate for
tolerance of various views also say it is in keeping with the industry’s
penchant for robust debate and transparency, at least within their walls.
“I personally believe that if you want to have a company
that is committed to diversity, you need to be committed to all kinds of
diversity, including ideological diversity,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told
students at North Carolina A&T State University in March.
But that vision can clash with reality in an industry
where liberal social views dominate and attitudes have become more polarized
since the election of President Donald Trump, current and former tech workers
say. In November, for example, Bahtiyar Duysak, a Twitter contract employee who
briefly deactivated the Twitter account of Mr. Trump was celebrated by current
and former employees of Twitter.
“It didn’t seem like there was much support for President
Trump at Twitter,” said Mr. Duysak, who deactivated the account on his last day
at Twitter.
Mr. Duysak praised Mr. Trump’s ambition and hard work in
an interview, but said he doesn’t support him politically. He says deactivating
Mr. Trump’s account was a mistake.
Aaron Ginn, president of the Lincoln Network, an advocacy
group for conservatives and libertarians in tech, said some tech workers have
told him they are uneasy about expressing views that are out of step with their
liberal colleagues’ because doing so could offend others, and hurt their
reputation and job prospects.
“People feel scared of violating whatever code of conduct
these lynch mobs might have,” he said, referring to those outspoken about their
liberal views.
Liberal Tech Tilt
Recent political contributions by employees of major tech
companies in Silicon Valley reflect a preference for the Democratic
presidential nominee over the Republican one.
Employee contributions to presidential campaigns
(2015-16)
Alphabet/Google
The Wall Street Journal contacted dozens of employees at
major tech companies including Twitter, Facebook, Google’s Alphabet Inc. and
Apple Inc. who donated to Republican causes, but few responded to inquiries.
Google employees appeared surprised to see each other at
an election night party hosted by a Republican group in Cupertino, Calif.,
celebrating Mr. Trump’s victory, according to a former Google employee who
attended. “We were all shocked,” this person said, to discover that there were
other Trump supporters at Google. The people agreed not to acknowledge one
another at work afterward for fear that their support for Mr. Trump might be
revealed, this person said.
“I don’t think it would be a good career move to say you
were a Trump supporter,” said an employee at a major tech company.
Military veterans working at Pinterest Inc. have
downplayed their background in the armed services because of concerns that
colleagues will assume they are conservative, said a person who has heard these
concerns being discussed at the company. This person added that not all of them
are conservative.
In interviews, many tech employees and executives said
they believed conservative views on issues like tax policy and regulation are
welcome in Silicon Valley. But conservative views on social issues like gay
marriage, civil rights and immigration meet more resistance, especially in an
environment where many liberals at tech companies have become more vocal
internally about their politics since the presidential campaign.
Some conservatives have tried to foster political
dialogue at their workplace. Fosco Marotto, a Facebook employee who works with
developers, said his colleagues didn’t initially believe him when early into
the presidential campaign he declared himself a Trump supporter.
In June, Mr. Marotto posted to an internal group used by
thousands of Facebook employees that he wanted to discuss issues ranging from
employment, taxes and the media over a “Politics Lunch.” “A lot of times,
people haven’t heard from the other side,” he said. Dozens of people from
across the political spectrum signed up for the more than 45 lunches he has
hosted since the summer, he said.
Tech companies have taken steps to cultivate audiences
among decision makers in both parties even before the Trump administration.
Twitter, for example, has long hired Republican
strategists in Washington to help conservative lawmakers use the platform. Many
tech companies, including Facebook and Twitter, have Republicans or
libertarians in policy roles or on their board of directors. Twitter’s nine
core values include “seek diverse perspectives” and “communicate fearlessly to
build trust.”
Tech firms have limited tools for cultivating political
diversity in their staff, though. There is no simple way to determine who is
conservative and asking directly can be tricky, experts say. California and New
York, for example, limit whether an employer can consider political activities
in hiring. Such questioning could also dissuade qualified candidates.
Meanwhile, managing internal debates has proven
difficult.
Political tensions flared in August when Google fired
engineer James Damore for writing a memo saying that the search giant’s gender
gap could be explained partly by biological differences, not sexism. He also
accused Google of being an “ideological echo chamber.”
Harmeet Dhillon, the lawyer representing Mr. Damore, said
Silicon Valley has been unwelcoming to conservatives for a long time. But since
the election, people with liberal bias have shown “more open contempt for other
viewpoints,” she said. Google employees have told her they have been denied
promotions or otherwise punished for their “perceived political views,” she
added.
Google said Mr. Damore was fired for violating its
policies on harassment and discrimination.
“We strongly support the right of Googlers to express
themselves. An important part of our culture is lively debate,” said Google
spokesman Ty Sheppard. “But like any workplace that doesn’t mean that anything
goes.”
Comments
Post a Comment