This week, it surfaced that a senior Facebook engineer, Brian Amerige, had posted a memo on Facebook’s internal message board titled “We Have a Problem with Political Diversity.”
That memo, obtained by the New York Times, has added to the already ongoing discussion about the liberal bias of Silicon Valley. It also highlighted something that is often lost in the debate on free speech and diversity of opinion: It comes down to what people want from their culture — in their workplace, campus, or country.
As citizens, students, employees, or consumers, people determine the culture of the communities that they are part of. How those people feel about free speech and the importance of political diversity, for example, determines not only what the laws are (by virtue of who is elected) but also what the prevailing social norms are.
Company policies and lip service cannot inject such values into a company. As Amerige explained, “We claim to welcome all perspectives, but are quick to attack—often in mobs—anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology.”
That, of course, is not a problem unique to Facebook, but rather one that is widespread within corporate America and academia.
“If you’re interested in helping make Facebook a company that’s more tolerant and active-minded about different political and ideological perspectives,” Amerige wrote, “join FB’ers for Political Diversity. There’s only going to be one core rule in the group, and it’s that if you attack a person’s character, rather than their ideas, you will be banned.”
He concludes with an invitation, “Let’s see where this goes.”
It’s not a legal argument, a publicity stunt, or posturing for social media. It’s a bold invitation to change the culture. To do so, he invited others to come sit down and talk with those with which you likely disagree, creating an environment where that not only happens, but is encouraged.
As anyone who has tried to bridge gaps by actually talking to other people about complex subjects knows, it’s not an easy undertaking. It’s much easier to simply scroll through a Facebook feed that is an echo chamber of your beliefs. In working to change the culture of Facebook to be more inclusive through these difficult discussions, I applaud Amerige’s efforts and would encourage others to consider trying what he is proposing in their own communities.
Valuing political diversity and free speech is about more than posting memes, it’s about promoting a culture that embraces disagreement and encourages difficult conversations.
For Facebook employees to demand a culture of political diversity and free speech is a welcome sign that on private Internet platforms where companies are not obligated to adhere to the First Amendment, their employees (or at least some of them) want a culture that does. This is important as companies, rather than governments, call more and more of the shots on national and international norms. Workplace culture, not laws or supreme court cases, will determine the future of free political expression.
