Chronic. Eternity ago – in the mid-2010s – tech terrorized its employees. The giants of Silicon Valley banned anyone from speaking to the press, even when the weather was nice, a shame in the land of free speech. Trying to question techies at the Google shuttle bus stops was a frustrating experience: robots, staring blankly, ears plugged by their headphones. Those who agreed to breathe a word took on the air of dissidents from an autocratic regime: “We are not allowed to speak”…
Employees were crippled by the now famous NDAs (non disclosure agreements), these confidentiality agreements that employees are obliged to sign when they are hired, officially to protect the secrets of start-ups. It also happens that techies believed in their mission (to change the world, to connect Earthlings to the last, etc.). Ten years later, the time has come for a rebellion against the law of silence. A wave of whistleblowers is sweeping through Silicon Valley businesses. Nothing is as dangerous as defrocked missionaries.
Frances Haugen, ex-data scientist of Facebook, has become the most publicized face of new whistleblowers, but it is far from unique. In April, Sophie Zhang, other data scientist, revealed Facebook’s tolerance for fake accounts maintained by foreign governments that seek to manipulate their public opinions. In recent years, few companies have not known their protesters, disappointed with the double talk of their messianic founder.
“Toxicity” of corporate culture
Coincidentally, just as Frances Haugen was testifying before Congress, another whistleblower, Ifeoma Ozoma, was publishing a guide for tech company employees tempted to expose the wrongdoing they see. His Tech Worker Handbook is aimed at delivery people and small hands in the digital economy as well as project managers. Far from encouraging them to play the vigilant, he highlights the risks. And offers advice. Which institutions to contact? How to speak to the press? How to prepare for the loss of your salary and health insurance? To the wave of discredit that will not fail to be orchestrated by the incriminated company? As Ifeoma Ozoma says, when you know the capacity of tech monitoring tools, there is something to be paranoid about …
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