Brendan Eich, CEO of Mozilla, has resigned following controversy over news that (back in 2008) he donated $1000.00 to an organization set up to oppose gay marriage. Here is part of Mozilla’s own response:
Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it. We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves.
We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better.
Brendan Eich has chosen to step down from his role as CEO. He’s made this decision for Mozilla and our community.
Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech. Equality is necessary for meaningful speech. And you need free speech to fight for equality. Figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard.
Our organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness. We welcome contributions from everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender-identity, language, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and religious views. Mozilla supports equality for all.
We have employees with a wide diversity of views. Our culture of openness extends to encouraging staff and community to share their beliefs and opinions in public. This is meant to distinguish Mozilla from most organizations and hold us to a higher standard. But this time we failed to listen, to engage, and to be guided by our community.
I don’t instinctively warm to someone who actively opposed same-sex marriage – but I also find something chilling in the Mozilla statement. This is partly because it echoes the kind of rhetoric used by members of ‘the world’s most powerful internet company’ The Circle (which combines elements of Google and Facebook) in Dave Eggers’ satirical novel of the same name:
Mae, now that you’re aboard, I wanted to get across some of the core beliefs here at the company. And chief among them is that just as important as the work we do here – and that work is very important – we want to make sure that you can be a human being here, too. We want this to be a workplace, sure, but it should also be a humanplace. And that means the fostering of community. In fact, it must be a community. That’s one of our slogans, as you probably know. Community First. And you’ve seen the signs that say Humans Work Here – I insist on those. That’s my pet issue. We’re not automatons. (The Circle (2013) pp. 46-7)
The naïve Mae is gradually sucked into the world of The Circle, in which social media and work become one. There is constant pressure to engage peppily with people’s posts and news, upload news of one’s personal life, recommend products, and answer endless consumer questionnaires. Employees are driven to climb up the rankings and approval ratings, and Mae stays up late to ensure success (having moved into a Circle dorm room to save time) with the zeal of an obsessive computer game addict. Diversity is celebrated – but dissent is not.
Another count against Eich is his support for both Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul. This doesn’t make him sound any more appealing, but I have sympathy for this commenter at CiF.
Whilst I’m not entirely happy with the man’s beliefs I fail to see what relevance they have to any of Mozilla’s products and am worried at the attempts of thought-policing.
