⚡Zuckerberg
Good morning everybody! If you missed yesterday’s newsletter, here it is.
Before we get started, we went to see the Beyond Geographies: Contemporary Art and Muslim Experience at the BRIC House this past weekend. In light of everything going on with the NBA and China (Adam Silver is still trying to cozy up to China, by the way), we wanted to share the following exhibit we saw:
Asif Mian’s reinterpretation of basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s 1996 Denver Nuggets jersey is a laser-cut sculpture evoking the form of a military-grade bulletproof vest. The jersey pays homage to Abdul-Rauf, who in 1996 refused to stand for the ceremonial pre-game playing of “The Star Spangled Banner” … the NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf, who was eventually villainized as an Islamic terrorist and ostracized by the sports league … this work brings attention to a lesser-known instance of an athlete taking a political stance against systemic oppression.
Okay, let’s get started! Two longer pieces today — one on a huge workplace inclusion screw-up and another on Facebook vs. democracy.
#thatsnotEYappropriate
Workplace inclusion is an incredibly tricky topic. While no company has truly figured it out, many are at least pushing in that direction by offering inclusive leadership training programs. These trainings are designed to help employees understand key topics like unconscious bias and lay the foundation for a shift towards an inclusive workplace.
EY can’t even get that right. A few days ago, the Huffington Post uncovered a training for around 30 female executives at EY in June 2018. This training, called Power-Presence-Purpose, was supposed to be a day-and-a-half seminar on leadership and empowerment — but the focus turned out to be about self-improvement for women. According to one participant, it was basically a “woman-bashing event.”
Where do we start. There is so much wrong about this. The Huffington Post got their hands on the training — check out some of the actual content delivered that day:
“Women’s brains absorb information like pancakes soak up syrup so it’s hard for them to focus … Men’s brains are more like waffles. They’re better able to focus because the information collects in each little waffle square.”
“Be polished, have a good haircut, manicured nails, well-cut attire that complements your body type … [but] don’t flaunt your body ― sexuality scrambles the mind (for men and women).”
“Don’t directly confront men in meetings, because men perceive this as threatening. Women do not. Meet before (or after) the meeting instead.”
There are so many more examples like these, we recommend reading the full piece.
It gets worse. The executives were also given a “Masculine / Feminine Score Sheet,” asking them to rate their adherence to stereotypical masculine and feminine characteristics — the masculine characteristics included “acts as a leader” and “analytical” whereas the so-called feminine traits included “affectionate” and “childlike.”
Our take. EY, are you kidding me? Yes, inclusion is a tricky topic, but delivering an inclusion training with the exact opposite message is just plain stupid. Taking a step back, inclusion in the workplace is one of the most critical topics for any future leader to understand. No matter what sector you work in, you will likely be working with people — and building an inclusive culture will enhance the experience of all employees and truly unlock everybody’s potential.
Facebook vs. Democracy (Round 2)
Following up from our earlier conversation on Zuckerberg’s speech about free expression and Facebook.
The quick summary. Earlier this fall, Facebook revised its political ad policy to enable political figures to widely circulate lies.
Their quick solution. Facebook’s response to this problem was to make political ads public so researchers, journalists, and citizens can investigate the content themselves and make a judgment. This definitely isn’t perfect, but it probably feels like a democratic one.
It’s not enough. From Facebook’s and Zuckerberg’s response, we can see that they have a deep misunderstanding of their own position and of historical movements. During his speech, Zuckerberg referred to MLK and movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo.
"The fact that Zuckerberg would even invoke civil rights icons in remarks that justify his decision to exempt politicians' speech from Facebook's Community Standards underscores his willful refusal to accept how voter suppression has played out, from Jim Crow to now. He is in denial and so is his company. Indeed, Zuckerberg remains silent on how Facebook will fight intentional misinformation by politicians. This reckless behavior presents a growing threat to our democracy. We urge Facebook to correct course and close this exemption, or at least subject the speech to third-party fact-checking, put up warnings, and require disclosures."
Vanita Gupta, President & CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Bernice King, MLK's only surviving daughter, weighed in on Twitter:
What’s the real, systemic problem? It’s control of the information commons. Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Open Markets Institute, believes that by concentrating online-advertising revenue in the hands of Google and Facebook inevitably results in an ethical breakdown. He believes it to be a “natural consequence of advertising financing an information utility like a social network or search engine,” and would produce a “dysfunctional information ecosystem… characterized by polarization, addiction, and conspiracy theories.”
Stoller’s solution. “To save democracy and the free press … means decentralizing these markets and splitting information utilities from one another … Advertising revenue should once again flow to journalism and art. And people should pay directly for communications services, instead of paying indirectly by forgoing democracy.”
Who agrees? The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, Brittany Kaiser.
“Facebook is actually the biggest threat to our democracy, not just foreign actors.”
Another perspective. Fred Wilson, a Partner at Union Square Ventures, believes that the power that Facebook and other platforms wield on society by virtue of their dominance is a “fleeting power and that in time they will be replaced by something else that is better for society.” He says we should be careful not to hand them more power. “Or worse require them to censor some voices and not others.”
Our take. We’ve said it before in private conversations and here — we need to keep watch. This isn’t something to be quietly and casually paying attention to. Read everything. Study everything. If you discover anything new, please send it to us.
Short Takes
Trump continues his all-out assaults on California and climate action. The administration filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s cap-and-trade program because the carbon marketplace incorporates Quebec.
Green bonds, a bond specifically earmarked for climate and environmental project, just crossed the $1 trillion mark. After launching in 2007, the cumulative issuance expanded to $100 billion in 8 years — and now, in the last 4, it’s grown by 10x.
Google achieves quantum supremacy — this means that their 53-bit quantum computer took 200 seconds to perform a calculation that would have taken the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years. Check out this interview with CEO Sundar Pichai here!
Monday, October 28
Conversations on Plant-based Entrepreneurship: Vegpreneur is a global entrepreneurs community that is made up of innovators who are building a plant-based future and they’re hosting an evening panel on the state of plant-based entrepreneurship at General Assembly. Light snacks and refreshments will be served.
Saturday, November 9
92Y Food Summit: From spotlights on innovation and burgers once thought impossible, to balancing the thrill of the delicious with social responsibility, to how immigrant chefs are transforming American cuisine, to what you’ll be eating in 2020, check out this event for this tantalizing think tank for food lovers.
Wednesday, November 13
Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals through Microfinance: This panel will look at the track record of the modern microfinance movement and how it has and can still contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals.
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