Facebook Under Discrimination Complaint
Mark Zuckerberg wants new smart glasses.
Apparently Facebook uses the term “culture fit” a lot. But some people say that this is just a screen for racism.
Many organizations today talk about their corporate cultures. What they mean by this is what are their values and what is their vision. Facebook does this too. But according to its accusers in a discrimination complaint the term is used by Facebook as a euphemism for saying that minorities do not fin in there.
Facebook is currently under investigation by America’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The investigation is over allegations that the world’s largest social media company has been racially biased in both its hiring of new employees as well as its promotions of already existing employees. Reuters reported last week on a number of complaints which were made describing the problem of racial bias at Facebook as “systemic.”
Now one of the accusers has spoken out in an interview with The Intercept.
A black woman with a PhD was rejected for a position with the company and old that she was not a “culture fit.” The same woman said that white staffers rushed her through the interview and told her repeatedly that she would not like the job there anyway.
The woman in question, who remains anonymous, added that she was, “subjected to Facebook’s pattern or practice of discrimination against Black applicants.”
In response, Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone told The Intercept “We believe it is essential to provide all employees with a respectful and safe working environment. We take any allegations of discrimination seriously and investigate every case.”
The investigation against Facebook just as the company is trying to make a breakthrough with a new kind of smart glasses.
Mark Zuckerberg said that the smart glasses which Facebook is developing will offer a form of augmented reality. He described this as “the holy grail of social experiences.”
Zuckerberg told The Information’s 411 podcast this week, “You have technology that allows you to communicate and that can with different fidelity help you see what’s going on with the other person. But there’s just something that’s really magical about the sense of presence and feeling like you’re there with another person and everything that goes into that psychologically.”
So we really are getting into Start Trek tech here. Imagine someday where instead of video chatting you can speak with a hologram which you can even touch and feel. “Rather than calling someone or having a video chat, you just kind of snap your fingers and teleport, and you’re sitting there and they’re on their couch and it feels like you’re there together,” said Zuckerberg.
Google failed a while back with its own smart glasses. But things have changed and now it, and Facebook are competing with just about every tech company to make ones that people will actually want.
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