Google fires employee who publicly protested company's work for Israel
What's the story
Google has fired an employee who interrupted a keynote speech by Barak Regev, the managing director of Google's Israel business, at the 'Mind the Tech' conference in New York. The employee protested against Google's involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with Israel's government and military. He said, "I refuse to build technology that powers genocide or surveillance." This incident showcases the ongoing internal disagreements within Google over its military contracts.
About the case
Employee's protest and subsequent termination
During Regev's speech, the former Google cloud engineer shouted, "No cloud apartheid." As the crowd booed, security escorted him out of the building. A Google spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the employee was fired for "interfering with an official company-sponsored event" and violating company policies. Regev responded to the protest, stating, "Part of the privilege of working in a company, which represents democratic values is giving the stage for different opinions."
Twitter Post
Take a look at the incident
BREAKING—PRO-PALESTINE @googlecloud ENGINEER DISRUPTS @Google ISRAEL DIRECTOR AT GOOGLE-SPONSORED ISRAELI TECH CONFERENCE IN NYC.
— No Tech For Apartheid (@NoTechApartheid) March 4, 2024
The worker demanded that Google STOP using worker labor to power genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. #NoTechForApartheid pic.twitter.com/t2mqCqFFay
Scenario
Project Nimbus controversy
Project Nimbus, signed in 2021 between Google, Amazon Web Services, and the Israeli government and military, grants access to cloud services. Hundreds of Google and Amazon employees have criticized the deal, arguing that it enables further surveillance and unlawful data collection on Palestinians. No Tech For Apartheid, an organization opposing Project Nimbus, slammed Google's decision to fire the protesting employee, saying "the corporation is trying to silence workers to hide their moral failings."
Insights
Internal dissent over military contracts
Since 2018, Google has faced internal opposition over its military contracts, starting with employee protests against Project Maven, a Defense Department contract. The recent escalation of conflict in the Middle East has heightened tensions within the company. Over 600 Google workers signed a letter urging leadership to drop its sponsorship of the annual Mind the Tech conference which promotes the Israeli tech industry.
What's more?
Premature closure of internal discussion forum
On Thursday, Google's employee message board was flooded with comments about company's military contracts with Israel. The online forum was closed due to "divisive content that is disruptive to our workplace," per spokesperson. Some employees questioned how Google's chatbot Gemini affects Palestinian women and expressed concerns about company's recognition of Mai Ubeid, a former Google software engineer killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.