Thursday, September 13, 2018

LEAKED VIDEO! GOOGLE'S ASSAULT ON AMERICA'S FIRST AMENDMENT


LEAKED VIDEO: Google Leadership’s Dismayed Reaction to Trump Election







A video recorded by Google shortly after the 2016 presidential election reveals an atmosphere of panic and dismay amongst the tech giant’s leadership, coupled with a determination to thwart both the Trump agenda and the broader populist movement emerging around the globe.

The video is a full recording of Google’s first all-hands meeting following the 2016 election (these weekly meetings are known inside the company as “TGIF” or “Thank God It’s Friday” meetings). Sent to Breitbart News by an anonymous source, it features co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, VPs Kent Walker and Eileen Naughton, CFO Ruth Porat, and CEO Sundar Pichai. It can be watched in full above. It can and should be watched in full above in order to get the full context of the meeting and the statements made.
It was reported earlier this week that Google tried to boost turnout among the Latino population to help Hillary Clinton, only to be dismayed as the usually solid Democratic voting bloc switched to the GOP in record numbers. This video shows a similar level of dismay among Google’s most high-profile figures.
These individuals, who preside over a company with unrivaled influence over the flow of information, can be seen disparaging the motivations of Trump voters and plotting ways to use their vast resources to thwart the Trump agenda.
Co-founder Sergey Brin can be heard comparing Trump supporters to fascists and extremists. Brin argues that like other extremists, Trump voters were motivated by “boredom,” which he says in the past led to fascism and communism.
The Google co-founder then asks his company to consider what it can do to ensure a “better quality of governance and decision-making.”
VP for Global Affairs Kent Walker argues that supporters of populist causes like the Trump campaign are motivated by “fear, xenophobia, hatred, and a desire for answers that may or may not be there.”
Later, Walker says that Google should fight to ensure the populist movement – not just in the U.S. but around the world – is merely a “blip” and a “hiccup” in a historical arc that “bends toward progress.”
CEO Sundar Pichai states that the company will develop machine learning and A.I. to combat what an employee described as “misinformation” shared by “low-information voters.”
Key moments from the video can be found at the following timestamps:
  • (00:00:00 – 00:01:12) Google co-founder Sergey Brin states that the weekly meeting is “probably not the most joyous we’ve had” and that “most people here are pretty upset and pretty sad.”
  • (00:00:24) Brin contrasts the disappointment of Trump’s election with his excitement at the legalization of cannabis in California, triggering laughs and applause from the audience of Google employees.
  • (00:01:12) Returning to seriousness, Brin says he is “deeply offen[ded]” by the election of Trump, and that the election “conflicts with many of [Google’s] values.”
  • (00:09:10) Trying to explain the motivations of Trump supporters, Senior VP for Global Affairs, Kent Walker concludes: “fear, not just in the United States, but around the world is fueling concerns, xenophobia, hatred, and a desire for answers that may or may not be there.”
  • (00:09:35) Walker goes on to describe the Trump phenomenon as a sign of “tribalism that’s self-destructive [in] the long-term.”
  • (00:09:55) Striking an optimistic tone, Walker assures Google employees that despite the election, “history is on our side” and that the “moral arc of history bends towards progress.”
  • (00:10:45) Walker approvingly quotes former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s comparison between “the world of the wall” with its “isolation and defensiveness” and the “world of the square, the piazza, the marketplace, where people come together into a community and enrich each other’s lives.”
  • (00:13:10) CFO Ruth Porat appears to break down in tears when discussing the election result.
  • (00:15:20) Porat promises that Google will “use the great strength and resources and reach we have to continue to advance really important values.”
  • (00:16:50) Stating “we all need a hug,” she then instructs the audience of Google employees to hug the person closest to them.
  • (00:20:24) Eileen Naughton, VP of People Operations, promises that Google’s policy team in DC is “all over” the immigration issue and that the company will “keep a close watch on it.”
  • (00:21:26) Naughton jokes about Google employees asking, ‘Can I move to Canada?’ after the election. She goes on to seriously discuss the options available to Google employees who wish to leave the country.
  • (00:23:12) Naughton does acknowledge “diversity of opinion and political persuasion” and notes that she has heard from conservative Google employees who say they “haven’t felt entirely comfortable revealing who [they] are.” and urged “tolerance.” (Several months later, the company would fire James Damore allegedly for disagreeing with progressive narratives.)
  • (00:27:00) Responding to a question about “filter bubbles,” Sundar Pichai promises to work towards “correcting” Google’s role in them
  • (00:27:30) Sergey Brin praises an audience member’s suggestion of increasing matched Google employee donations to progressive groups.
  • (00:34:40) Brin compares Trump voters to “extremists,” arguing for a correlation between the economic background of Trump supporters and the kinds of voters who back extremist movements. Brin says that “voting is not a rational act” and that not all of Trump’s support can be attributed to “income disparity.” He suggests that Trump voters might have been motivated by boredom rather than legitimate concerns.
  • (00:49:10) An employee asks if Google is willing to “invest in grassroots, hyper-local efforts to bring tools and services and understanding of Google products and knowledge” so that people can “make informed decisions that are best for themselves.” Pichai’s response: Google will ensure its “educational products” reach “segments of the population [they] are not [currently] fully reaching.”
  • (00:54:33) An employee asks what Google is going to do about “misinformation” and “fake news” shared by “low-information voters.” Pichai responds by stating that “investments in machine learning and AI” are a “big opportunity” to fix the problem.
  • (00:56:12) Responding to an audience member, Walker says Google must ensure the rise of populism doesn’t turn into “a world war or something catastrophic … and instead is a blip, a hiccup.”
  • (00:58:22) Brin compares Trump voters to supporters of fascism and communism, linking the former movement to “boredom,” which Brin previously linked to Trump voters. “It sort of sneaks up sometimes, really bad things” says Brin.
  • (01:01:15) A Google employee states: “speaking to white men, there’s an opportunity for you right now to understand your privilege” and urges employees to “go through the bias-busting training, read about privilege, read about the real history of oppression in our country.” He urges employees to “discuss the issues you are passionate about during Thanksgiving dinner and don’t back down and laugh it off when you hear the voice of oppression speak through metaphors.” Every executive on stage – the CEO, CFO, two VPs and the two Co-founders – applaud the employee.
  • (01:01:57) An audience member asks if the executives see “anything positive from this election result.” The audience of Google employees, and the executives on stage, burst into laughter. “Boy, that’s a really tough one right now” says Brin.
Update — After Breitbart News published this article, a Google spokesperson replied to a request for comment with the following statement:
“At a regularly scheduled all hands meeting, some Google employees and executives expressed their own personal views in the aftermath of a long and divisive election season. For over 20 years, everyone at Google has been able to freely express their opinions at these meetings. Nothing was said at that meeting, or any other meeting, to suggest that any political bias ever influences the way we build or operate our products. To the contrary, our products are built for everyone, and we design them with extraordinary care to be a trustworthy source of information for everyone, without regard to political viewpoint.”
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on TwitterGab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to allumbokhari@protonmail.com.


Revolving Door: Dozens of Clinton Staffers Hired by Google — and Vice-Versa



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Dozens of people who used to work for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and a number of Clinton initiatives went on to work at Google, and vice-versa.

At least twelve employees from the Clinton Global Initiative, the Clinton Foundation, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative went on to work for Google, while at least fifteen Google employees went on to work for Hillary For America. The list was originally developed by Adam Townsend on Twitter.
Here is the list of employees:
Peter Albers, former Finance and Operations Director at the Clinton Foundation, before moving to Google Fiber as Head of Partnerships and Market Development in 2015. In 2017, he became Google’s Global Head of Business Development and Head of Americas Retail Partnerships for Google Play Retail.
Shannon Jones Newberry, former Deputy Director of Communications at the Clinton Global Initiative, before becoming Communications and Public Affairs Manager at Google in 2012.
Jeff Lawi, a former analyst at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, before joining Google in 2013 where he has held a number of positions, including Product Support Manager, Senior Product Support Manager, and Principal, Strategy, and Business Operations.
Nathan Allen, a former consultant at the Clinton Foundation, before becoming a Senior Creative Producer and Launch Manager at Google in 2015. Allen is currently an Executive Producer at Google.
Puiyan Leung, a former consultant for the Clinton Foundation through Stern Consulting Corps. Leung had been an intern at Google before serving as a consultant for the Clinton Foundation, and he returned to Google in 2013 as a financial analyst, before becoming a program manager in 2015. Leung left Google to work for Facebook in 2016.
Felicia Yep Salinas, former Employment and Labor Commitment Maker at the Clinton Global Initiative before joining Google in 2015 as a Talent Hacker. She then became a Technical Sourcer in 2016, before moving to Facebook months later.
John Lyman, according to the website for GV where he now works, “helped launch the Clinton Global Initiative,” worked as Deputy Chairperson, and focused on “progressive policy and advocacy,” before joining Google for “a decade” where he served as Head of Partnerships and Marketing for Google for Entrepreneurs.
Scot Frank, a former mentor at the Clinton Global Initiative, joined Google as a product manager in 2014.
Theodore Przybyla, former Working Group Manager at the Clinton Global Initiative, joined Google as an engagement manager in 2015, before leaving for the Brookings Institution in September 2017.
Justin Pang, former Deputy Chief Operating Officer at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, joined Google in 2012. Having served as Strategic Partner Lead of Global Partnerships and Team Lead of Global Partnerships, he is currently the Head of Partnerships.
Maria Wang-Faulkner, former Country Support Manager at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, joined Google as a Strategic Partner Manager in 2016, and currently serves as Strategic Partner Development Manager for Google Assistant.
Paul Lee, a former consultant for the Clinton Foundation, joined Google in 2007 as a Senior Product Manager, before leaving in 2015.
Stephanie Hannon, former Group Product Manager at Google, left the company in 2011 before becoming a Product Manager at Facebook in 2012. Hannon then moved back to Google in 2013 as a Director of Product Management for just over two years, before she became the Chief Technology Officer for Hillary For America in April 2015.
Osi Imeokparia, former Product Management Director at Google, left the company in 2015 to become Chief Product Officer at Hillary For America. Imeokparia currently works at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is owned by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.
Derek Parham, former Technical Lead of Google Apps, joined Hillary For America in 2016 as Deputy Chief Technology Officer.
Jason Rosenbaum has worked in a number of Democrat Party-affiliated positions, including as Deputy Director of Online Communications for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee between April 2007 and March 2009, and Digital Director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee between March 2009 and June 2013. Rosenbaum then became Director of Elections and Advocacy at Google in July 2013, before leaving to become Director of Digital Advertising at Hillary For America in July 2015.
Nathaniel Welch, a former Site Reliability Engineer at Google, joined Hillary For America as Staff Site Reliability Engineer in January 2016.
Henry Bridge, former Product Manager at Google, left to join Facebook in June 2011, before becoming Director of Product at Hillary For America in January 2016.
Fred Wulff, a former software engineer at Google, joined Hillary For America in March 2016 as a software engineer and manager.
Divina Videna Chung, former Operations Point of Contact at Google Express, joined Hillary For America in February 2016 as California Phone Bank Captain and Nevada Precinct Captain. She also worked at Uber, before moving to Facebook as an Oculus VR Brand Ambassador.
Danny Bowman, a former Product Specialist at Google, joined Hillary For America in July 2016 as a software engineer.
James Plummer, a former User Experience Designer at Google, joined Hillary For America in January 2016 as Lead Product Designer and Manager.
Andrea Frome, a former software engineer at Google, joined Hillary For America in May 2016 as a senior software engineer.
Maxwell Nunes, a former Political Advertising Fellow at Google, joined Hillary For America’s digital team in June 2015. Nunes currently works in digital policy at Airbnb.
Remy DeCausemaker, a former mentor at Google Summer of Code, joined Hillary For America in June 2016 as Open Source Community Manager, before becoming Open Source Program Manager at Twitter in June 2017.
Dina Lamdany, a former software engineering intern at Google, joined Hillary For America in June 2015 as a data analyst, before moving back to Google as an Associate Product Manager.
Corey Bertram, a former software engineering intern at Google, worked with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and claimed to be “responsible for building backend platform and infra for Hillary Clinton 2016.”
This year, Breitbart Tech also discovered that dozens of former Clinton and Obama staffers were now working at Facebook.
In 2016, WikiLeaks claimed Google was “directly engaged” with and working for the Clinton presidential campaign, while leaked emails showed that former Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt wanted to be the “Head Outside Advisor” to the Clinton Campaign.
Schmidt was also “instrumental” in creating the “The Groundwork,” a company that sought to put Clinton into the White House, and Google worked to hide negative search results of Clinton during the presidential campaign.
In a leaked video released by Breitbart Tech of an internal meeting at Google shortly after Clinton’s presidential campaign defeat in 2016, Google executives, including CEO Sundar Pichai, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, and Vice Presidents Kent Walker and Eileen Naughton expressed strong and negative reactions to the results.
Brin announced that the meeting is “probably not the most joyous we’ve had” and claimed to find the election results “deeply offensive,” claiming it “conflicts with many of [Google’s] values.”
After an employee asked if Google would “invest in grassroots, hyper-local efforts to bring tools and services and understanding of Google products and knowledge” so Americans can “make informed decisions that are best for themselves,” Pichai claimed the company would ensure that “educational products” reach “segments of the population [they] are not [currently] fully reaching,” and expressed that “investments in machine learning and AI” could stop “misinformation” shared by “low-information voters.”
The executives also applauded an employee who made a remark about needing to recognize “white privilege” following the election.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.

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