美国国家公共电台 NPR Tech Workers Demand CEOs Stop Doing Business With ICE, Other U.S. Agencies

Tech Workers Demand CEOs Stop Doing Business With ICE, Other U.S. Agencies

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Tech workers from Salesforce, Microsoft, Amazon and Google are putting pressure on their CEOs to cut ties and end contracts with some U.S. government agencies. It's rare for employees to tell their bosses to turn away business. But as NPR's Laura Sydell reports, there's a growing concern among tech workers that the cutting-edge tools they create can be used in immoral¹ ways.

LAURA SYDELL, BYLINE²: There's always been a stream of idealism at the major tech companies. Google started with the motto don't be evil. Facebook's mission statement says it's committed to bringing the world closer together. The CEO of Salesforce, which builds software for businesses, loves to tout³ its values. Here's Marc Benioff at the company's annual conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARC BENIOFF: We've fought together - whether it's for LGBTQ equality across the country, that's been so important for us. We're fighting for women and gender⁴ equality and gender pay equity⁵ for women all over...

SYDELL: Now the outspoken⁶ CEO is caught up in the nation's debate about immigration. Earlier this week, a handful of protesters outside of the Salesforce tower in downtown San Francisco called on the company to live up to its values.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Hey, hey, ho, ho, CBP has got to go.

SYDELL: The protesters are here to support the more than 650 Salesforce employees who signed a petition asking CEO Benioff to end Salesforce's software contract with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP. They're upset over its role in the treatment of migrant families and their children. So far, Salesforce is keeping the contract to supply software to manage human resources. In a tweet, CEO Benioff said the company doesn't work with CBP to separate families. He agrees separating families is wrong. But that's not enough for tech workers like Kevin Ortiz.

KEVIN ORTIZ: Salesforce has the obligation both morally and ethically⁷ to actually stop all practice with CBP, regardless of what the relationship is, in order to cripple CBP.

SYDELL: Whether Salesforce has a moral obligation may be debatable to some, but tech employees say they are proud of the values these companies promote. In fact, the demonstrators came from a variety of tech companies. And while they are speaking out, many like this programmer at a large company didn't want to use their names because their employers might retaliate⁸.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: This mantra of, oh, yeah, we actually deeply listen and care about our employees is finally starting to crumble⁹ because people are seeing the industry for what it really is, which is just like any other industry that's focused on making money and enriching their shareholders¹⁰ and CEOs.

SYDELL: The Salesforce protest is part of a growing movement among tech workers. Employees at Google successfully pushed for an end to a contract with the Pentagon, which was going to use its technology for more targeted drone strikes. Amazon employees want the company to cancel contracts with law enforcement for facial recognition technology. At Microsoft, some programmers have threatened to quit rather than build software for ICE.

Jennifer Chatman, a professor at Haas School of Business University of California Berkeley, says it's almost unheard of for workers to ask their employer to stop doing business with a particular client. But she thinks there's a reason this is happening at tech companies.

JENNIFER CHATMAN: The organizations encourage responsibility by having generally flatter hierarchies¹¹. They encourage people to challenge and debate. They encourage people to test the status quo.

SYDELL: Todd Gitlin, a professor of sociology and communications at Columbia University, says there is a precedent¹² for scientists and engineers refusing to work with the government on technology. After the U.S. used the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many of the scientists who worked on it were horrified¹³.

TODD GITLIN: And one of them was Robert Oppenheimer, who actually was deprived of his security clearance¹⁴ because he didn't want to work on the hydrogen bomb.

SYDELL: Oppenheimer is known as the father of the atomic bomb. And while most big tech companies aren't in the business of building bombs, many like this anonymous¹⁵ programmer do see how the technologies they build are a double-edged sword. Social media can connect people and it can spread fake news. Facial recognition can catch criminals or be used by authoritarians¹⁶ to track their citizens.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We have the power to stand up and say we won't do that. That's not the future that we want to see. We want to show that there's a different future possible where tech isn't used for human rights abuse.

SYDELL: And these workers hope that this is the beginning of employees speaking up to their bosses about how the technology they build gets used. Laura Sydell, NPR News, San Francisco.

MONTAGNE: And we should note Salesforce is a financial supporter of NPR.

1 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

7 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

8 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

9 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

10 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

11 hierarchies   

等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系

参考例句：

• That's a trip of two hierarchies. 那是两个领导层之间的互访。
• Hierarchies of authority, spans of control, long-range plans, and budgets. 等级森严的权力机构，控制范围，长期计划，预算。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

12 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

13 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

14 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

15 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

16 authoritarians   

权力主义者，专制者，独裁者( authoritarian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It requires no complicated theories of a preference for authoritarians or personal seduction. 并不需要所谓偏爱独裁者或似魅力等复杂理论。
• The authors advocated immediate intervention by industry chiefs to stop authoritarians from rising up the ranks. 研究报告的撰写者们呼吁行业领导立即采取措施阻止有此种苗头的单位领导获得晋升机会。