this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2024
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Improve The News

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Improve The News is a free news aggregator and news analysis site developed by a group of researchers at MIT and elsewhere to improve your access to trustworthy news. Many website algorithms push you (for ad revenue) into a filter bubble by reinforcing the narratives you impulse-click on. By understanding other people’s arguments, you understand why they do what they do – and have a better chance of persuading them. **What's establishment bias?** The establishment view is what all big parties and powers agree on, which varies between countries and over time. For example, the old establishment view that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote was successfully challenged. ITN makes it easy for you to compare the perspectives of the pro-establishment mainstream media with those of smaller establishment-critical news outlets that you won’t find in most other news aggregators. This Magazine/Community is not affiliated with Improve The News and is an unofficial repository of the information posted there.


**LR (left/right): 1 = left leaning, 3 = neutral, 5 = right leaning** **CP (critical/pro-establishment): 1 = critical, 3 = neutral, 5 = pro**

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  • Google has fired 28 employees who participated in protests against the company's $1.2B contract with the Israeli government and military to provide cloud and AI services. Bloomberg (LR: 3 CP: 5)
  • The protests, organized by the group No Tech for Apartheid, took place Tuesday at Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, Calif. with protesters demanding the company to drop its "Project Nimbus" contract with Israel. Nine were arrested during the protests on Tuesday. ABC News
  • Protesters accuse the company of supporting Israeli military action and alleged human rights violations in Gaza. CNN (LR: 2 CP: 5)
  • During the protests, employees also protested labor conditions saying that Project Nimbus had negatively impacted employees' "health and safety on the job" and highlighted alleged discrimination against Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim workers at the company. NBC (LR: 2 CP: 4)
  • In a memo sent to all Google employees on Wednesday, the company's head of security, Chris Rackow, criticized the protests and warned that the company would take action against those who violate its policies. Verge (LR: 2 CP: 3)
  • No Tech for Apartheid has accused Google of retaliatory firings, saying that protesters had participated in a "peaceful sit-in and refusing to leave did not damage property or threaten other workers," and that the company had fired its employees "indiscriminately." NBC (LR: 2 CP: 4)

Narrative A:

  • While Google is aware that Tuesday's protests were the work of a small group of people who do not represent the majority of the company's employees, it's important to note that disruptive behavior has no place in the workplace. Unprofessionalism will not be tolerated, and Google is well within its rights to act against disorderly conduct, up to and including termination.
    VERGE (LR: 2 CP: 3)

Narrative B:

  • These firings were illegal and retaliatory, given that the protests were peaceful. Google shouldn't be involved in any military contracts, and Project Nimbus and its association with the catastrophe taking place in Gaza are disturbing. The company clearly cares more about profit than it does about the well-being of its employees or taking an ethical stance on the role of AI in conflict and human rights.
    TECHCRUNCH (LR: 3 CP: 3)

Nerd narrative:

  • There's a 72% chance that "slaughterbots" kill at least 50 people outside a military conflict by 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
    METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)
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