Google Cuts Company Protecting People From Surveillance To A ‘Skeleton Crew,’ Say Laid Off Workers

A Google company producing tools to counter online hate speech, disinformation and protect civil society from surveillance has had its workforce cut by at least a third, according to three employees laid off by Alphabet in January, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

With the loss of chief and founder Jared Cohen six months ago and the new cuts, former staff now fear Google is phasing out an altruistic part of its business because it isn’t focused on turning a profit. That could threaten the future development of tools helping protect under-threat communities. In the early days of Jigsaw, it produced free tools for nonprofits facing cyberattacks that threatened to knock them offline.

Google declined to comment on the number of Jigsaw staff affected by the layoffs. Jigsaw spokesperson Shira Almeleh toldthat it is continuing to work on products. “​​We are focused on understanding the spread of harmful misinformation and violent extremism, reducing toxicity in online speech, and defending access to the open web,” she added.

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