Credits: MIC
The Trump administration might be building a Muslim Registry, but technology giants, Apple, Google, and Uber have decided to work against it.
“We think people should be treated the same no matter how they worship, what they look like, who they love. We haven’t been asked and we would oppose such an effort.” – Apple
These technology giants are amongst the most high-profile Silicon Valley players there are and they refuse to construct a database that could possibly be used to track as well as target Muslim Americans.
Credits: SlashGear
The companies held their silence on the subject matter for awhile but only responded after The Intercept began probing around tech companies regarding the subject, but only managing to garner a response from Twitter. The pressure that began mounting last month had peaked this week when a Facebook spokesperson, that initially chose not to comment had unintentionally sent Buzzfeed a message (which was intended for a Facebook colleague). This email had mentioned that any comment regarding the Muslim Registry would be a Straw Man argument and thus from a PR standpoint, Facebook should keep a low profile. Only when Buzzfeed published the email, Facebook responded by saying that it would not agree to a Muslim Registry, not that it had been asked.
After Facebook’s stumble, more companies have begun to come on the record to voice their opinions on the matter.
“We oppose discrimination and we wouldn’t do any work to build a registry of Muslim Americans.” – Microsoft PR Head, Frank X
“In relation to the hypothetical of whether we would ever help build a ‘muslim registry’ — we haven’t been asked, of course we wouldn’t do this and we are glad — from all that we’ve read — that the proposal doesn’t seem to be on the table.” – Google
Credits: Yahoo
Other tech companies that have gone on the record to make a stand against participating in the Muslim Registry were:
Transport companies that could be asked for user’s travel data.
- Lyft
- Uber
Publishing companies that allows writers to publish dissenting opinions using pseudonyms
- Medium
- WordPress
Oracle, however, which used to count the National Security Agency as a client, refused to comment regarding the Registry or whether it is still associated with the NSA.
About the Aut
hor
A Dentist-To-Be Dabbling in Tech Journalism:
Zayne is a writer who reports for VR-Zone, Stuff Singapore and The New Paper on all things tech-related. Follow this geek on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!
