Google employees resign over censored China search engine project
San Francisco, Sep 14 : Seven Google employees have resigned citing lack of corporate transparency after the Internet giant revealed its efforts to re-enter China through a censored search application code-named project "Dragonfly".
The company's staffers shared the list of names on an email list dedicated to discussions of ethics and transparency issues at Google.
"Three sources familiar with the matter confirmed the existence of the list, which is made up largely of software engineers whose experience at Google ranges between one and 11 years," BuzzFeed News reported late on Thursday.
One of the names on the list includes former Google Senior Scientist Jack Poulson, who worked for Google in Toronto before resigning last month.
About 1,000 employees signed an open letter asking the company to be transparent about the project and to create an ethical review process for it that includes rank-and-file employees, not just high-level executives, according to CNET.
"The reported resignations illustrate a shifting cultural environment at Google, where employees have been more outspoken, publicly challenging strategy set by the company's leadership," the CNET report added.
This comes days after it was announced that Google Cloud's artificial intelligence (AI) Chief Scientist Fei-Fei Li would be replaced by Andrew Moore, dean of Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science.
Google's reported plan to launch a censored version of its search engine in China has come under heavy criticism from a former Asia-Pacific head of the company's free expression issues who called it a "stupid move".
The search engine giant had launched a search engine in China in 2006 but pulled the service out of the country in 2010, citing Chinese government efforts to limit free speech and block websites.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Our people will not leave: Palestinian president condemns Trump's suggestion to 'clean out' Gaza
Ramallah (AP): The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sharply condemned US President Donald Trump's suggestion to “clean out” the Gaza Strip and request that Egypt and Jordan take in more Palestinians.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says the prospect of mass displacement from the Gaza Strip “constitutes a violation of the red lines that we have repeatedly warned against.”
“Our people will not leave,” the statement said. “We warn of the repercussions of such a dangerous Israeli policy that contributes to severing the ties of the Gaza Strip, and displacing its people, which will lead to destabilization and security.”
Trump's remarks suggesting that Palestinians be encouraged to leave Gaza gets at the core of Palestinian fears that they will be driven from their remaining homeland.
The Palestinian presidency said it was “ready to assume its full duties in the Gaza Strip” in hopes of eventually establishing an independent Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, briefly controlled Gaza after Israeli troops withdrew in 2005, only to be driven out by its rival Hamas two years later.
