Technology
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s xenophobic comments this week about blocking all Muslims from entering the United States have sparked massive uproars from many corners of the globe. Now, Silicon Valley is taking a side in the debate over Trump’s hateful rhetoric.
Blouin News has previously examined how the technology world can and may aid in the refugee crisis in Europe, and its implications in the encryption debate. This week saw executives at major tech companies in the U.S. speaking out amid the polarizing divide created by Trump's comments. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook published his thoughts on Wednesday on his Facebook page, remarking:
“If you're a Muslim in this community, as the leader of Facebook I want you to know that you are always welcome here and that we will fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment for you.”
His support highlights how the technology community — and social media companies in particular — are at the center of this heated, international tension. As the rest of the world marvels in, what is fair to say, disbelief at Trump’s outrageous comments, popular U.S.-based social media services, and famous tech giants in general, become hubs of communication around the controversy. Services like Facebook are also now well-known platforms for Islamic State recruitment.
Earlier this week Google’s Eric Schmidt wrote in the New York Times:
“We should build tools to help de-escalate tensions on social media — sort of like spell-checkers, but for hate and harassment. We should target social accounts for terrorist groups like the Islamic State, and remove videos before they spread, or help those countering terrorist messages to find their voice.”
Schmidt's injunction echoes one that world leaders have made to technology companies for some time. But it remains problematic. Many countries whose governments restrict internet freedoms have called on U.S.-based tech companies to remove content they see as damaging, hateful, and/or offensive. Usually, those companies (Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.) refuse to do so. But, could these tech giants collectively move towards censoring some content? Thus far, each company has established its own rules for what can and cannot live on its site.
While Schmidt’s and Zuckerberg’s statements do not provide any details, they are not going unnoticed. They could also be in response to U.S. political leaders calling upon the tech world to be an active participant in the fight against terror. Both President Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have voiced over the last week that Silicon Valley must be a partner in combating online extremism. It is unclear how these companies, who support the platforms on which so much of the world communicates, will go about participating in stemming terrorist-based activity, but at least the conversation is charging full steam ahead.
