Of all the units, the companies of Silicon Valley are showing their support for immigrants in the face of the decree, the anti-immigration recently signed by Donald Trump. The most promise to support their employees, a part supporting the same organizations fighting the legal text, in the image of the ACLU.
a few days ago, Donald Trump has signed a decree banning the entry into the United States from nationals of the seven countries with a muslim majority. Those from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen are denied for 90 days, while the syrian refugees are blocked indefinitely. An ad that has triggered an outcry, especially on the side of the Silicon Valley, a significant part of whose officers and employees are foreigners.
Since the signing in effect, an avalanche of reactions to these patterns fell in the columns of the newspapers and emails of employees. Pressed on their social role – especially since the last american election – these companies appear for the first time openly against the new president… After having tried conciliation at a meeting in November.
GAFAM mobilized, but not all publicly
most of The GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft) are rapidly expressed against this decree. One of the first was Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. “The United States is a nation of immigrants, and we should be proud of, ” wrote Mark Zuckerberg on 27 January, in a public message on his social network. In it he calls for not to extend the measures against persons who do not pose a risk to the country. He also requests to maintain the reception of refugees.
For its part, the Apple boss, Tim Cook, has sent a letter to its employees. In this message, obtained by Business Insider, he claims to be in contact with the white House to oppose the decree. The employees affected by the measure would have been contacted by the company, which promises them the help they need.
At Microsoft, Brad Smith, president and head of legal affairs, which is split by an email addressed to all employees, then published by Satya Nadella on LinkedIn. Like Facebook, Microsoft defends the Deferred Access for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protects young immigrants. Its subsidiary, LinkedIn claims to accelerate its program of reception of refugees already on american soil.
At Google, co-founder Sergey Brin participated in the event held at the San Francisco airport. In a memo sent to staff, Sundar Pichai believes “painful ” to see this order have effects on the employees of the group. The company has set up a crisis fund of two million dollars, so that the employees can complete the other two, destination associations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 187 employees would be affected by the decree. The Wall Street Journal, one of them says that this announcement is sudden, ” disrupts his life “.
Finally, the human resources division ofAmazon promises legal aid to the employees affected, as the other GAFAM. Even if the silence of Jeff Bezos is noticed by Business Insider.
Uber suffers protests, Elon Musk advocates for the amendment
The lack of public reaction may lead to the challenge of companies, such as Uber. A campaign #DeleteUber has emerged in recent days. The reason for this ? Uber would have benefited from a movement of the taxis, at JFK international airport in New York, to lower its prices and attract more customers. The pill is not passed, and the company has issued two press releases to restore the situation.
The service of VTC, a great deal of criticism on the social issues, has promised to establish a fund of three million dollars, to help the drivers difficulties, including through translation services. A method already used in France, with the fund of two million euros, promised to drivers in trouble, without more details. In parallel, the company funded by Google, promises legal support to the drivers involved and put pressure on Washington.
Its competitor Lyft has held a position much less ambiguous. In a message to its customers, the company says : “We strongly oppose these actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten our values “. More concretely, it promises to give a million dollars to the ACLU in the next four years.
on The side of Airbnb, its co-founder Brian Chesky promises free housing to refugees and non-authorized people in the United States. The service provides a form to offer housing to people locked out of the country. Note that it is available in French. In parallel, Elon Musk, boss of SpaceX and Tesla, said on Twitter that ” the global ban of nationals of certain countries with a muslim majority is not the best answer to the challenges of the country “. Adviser to Trump, he asked publicly of the slopes of amendment for the creation of the text.
reactions cascade in the Silicon Valley
In fact, people who have not expressed seem to be rather rare. The boss of Salesforce, Mar Benioff, has expressed its support for the protest via his Twitter account. Reed Hastings, at the head of Netflix, said on Facebook that the actions of Trump ” if non-Us that they make us all the evil “. Chad Dickerson of Etsy has marked his refusal of the ” the exclusion according to nationality or religion. Point “.
Sam Altman, behind-the-incubator Y-Combinator, considered for his part that” it is time that the companies in Silicon Valley are speaking out against the actions of the administration in Trump “, in a blog post of 28 January, it seems widely followed. Jack Dorsey of Twitter has multiplied messages in favour of the protests and the ACLU. “The humanitarian impact and economic of the decree is real and disturbing. We have the benefit of what refugees and immigrants bring to the United States ” he wrote.
other companies have multiplied the interventions, to the image hosting Box, Dropbox, or payment solutions in Square and Stripe. For its part, Mozilla has been sentenced in a blog post the decree (anti-immigration), felt unnecessarily large. “diversity in all its forms is crucial to the growth, innovation and an innovative society and healthy ” argues the foundation.
The engagement has resulted in very practical terms to the ACLU, a non-profit organization that fights the decree in question. She claims to have received $ 24.2 million of donations over the weekend, more than five times what it normally receives in a year. In particular, the company benefited from a lot of public support on Twitter, including one of the investor Chris Sacca, who has promised him $ 150,000, or Jack Dorsey.
And France ?
If such measures do not yet appear on the agenda, the debate is not totally excluded. He briefly emerged during the ces Las Vegas, when political figures have launched an operation seduction among digital entrepreneurs. Axelle Lemaire was complaining and the willingness to closure of many countries, taking the view that France must be a nation open.
For his part, François Fillon promised that the strict control of immigration that it advocates would not hamper the recruitment of groups digital, without more details. The day before yesterday, François Hollande was pushing a cry of alarm against the will of withdrawal, adding that the reception of refugees is one of the foundations of our democracy.
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