Big Tech Employees Quiet About Election This Time

by Yididya Sebhatu

In 2017, when President Donald Trump enforced a temporary travel ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, tech giants such as Google and Meta reacted with vocal disapproval through employee-led protests, urging executives to take a stand. 

Now, newly implemented policies by tech executives set in-home behaviors to enhance employee productivity by preventing workplace political talk, limiting internal communications, and refraining from engaging in public debates on controversial issues.

For example, Google shifted its messaging in 2019 to employees to not engage in political talk in the workplace. Moreover, they have been forced to begin shutting down their internal contentious forums like Memegen; in particular after employees were provided guidance on their responsibilities to maintain a productive workplace after heated discussions about the recent war in Gaza. Many employees understand this shift as censorship because the company’s actions reduce an employee’s opportunity for open expression, and limit the company’s once free-flowing culture. Similarly, the new “Community Engagement Expectations” policy established by Meta late in 2022 bans workplace discussions related to hot-button topics like abortion, racial justice, and active wars. Employees believe that these policies intentionally close spaces that were once designed for discussion and debate.

This crackdown on employee activism reflects a larger trend in the tech sector. In the wake of the pandemic, companies have implemented historic layoffs, and set deadlines for employees to return to their workplaces. The vibrant, free-flowing cultures that tech companies once advertised have plainly reconsolidated. 

Experts suggest that it is unlikely that employees will eliminate activism altogether. It seems likely that corporate activism will evolve into extended forms of activism, particularly as the generations of young workers and internet workers continue to advocate for businesses to make responsible decisions and behave ethically, for instance, to implement ethical AI practices and to create inclusive workplace cultures.