YouTube’s refusal to remove a song some employees find racist to people of Asian origin has caused a fracas inside the company, the latest clash in a growing national debate about anti-Asian hate.
“We find this video to be highly offensive and understand it is painful for many to watch, including many in Trust & Safety and especially given the ongoing violence against the Asian community,” the executives wrote. While the lyrics may otherwise violate the company’s hate speech policy, they said YouTube makes exceptions for clips that have an Educational, Documentary, Scientific or Artistic context.
The debate at YouTube is the latest example of Silicon Valley workers and executives being at loggerheads over the societal or moral implications of a company’s business decisions. Alphabet’s Google has previously faced worker outrage over an effort to build a censored search engine for China, an AI contract with the US military and a giant exit package for an executive accused of sexual misconduct.
“# of direct answers in a Townhall ZERO,” was the text of one meme plastered over a gif of former US President Bill Clinton saying the word, “zero.” More than 160 colleagues liked the post.