• deegeese@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    131
    arrow-down
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    Can’t fool me, they gave it away when they removed “Don’t be evil” from their motto back in 2015.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      The first time I saw the slogan all I could think is “a normal not-evil person doesn’t need to make such a disclaimer”.

    • quantum_mechanic@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      67
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Lol, how simplistic do you have to be to believe this means anything? First off, you need to believe in good and evil, which are completely arbitrary. And do you think they thought “hmm, we need to start doing evil things do extract more profit… Change the motto so everybody knows! But then we’ll pretend to not be evil when confronted about this change…”

      Maybe being evil would be to not change the motto and start doing evil acts anyway. Simpler answer is that somebody probably thought it was a stupid thing to have on there in the first place, and was likely thought up by a Cheeto stained LOTR neckbeard.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        59
        ·
        1 year ago

        “Good and evil are arbitrary” mfers when I chop off their balls and feed them to their kids because I wanted to:

      • Moobythegoldensock@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        31
        ·
        1 year ago

        They started deemphasizing the motto when they became a conglomerate in 2015, and removed it completely in 2018 after employees started getting fired for criticizing Google’s shady dealings with the Customs and Border Protection Agency.

        Essentially, the employees argued that Google including “don’t be evil” in their contracts made them ethically obligated to speak up against bad behavior, and they didn’t actually want that. So it appears Google did indeed have a definition of “evil,” and when forced to choose between changing their practice or their definition, they chose the latter.

      • skulblaka@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        21
        ·
        1 year ago

        It’s what is known as a canary statement. Taken from when miners used to take canaries into the mines so that the bird would die first if there was toxic gas.

        If the canary is dead, something is wrong. Google had it in their mission statement to not do bad things, then that was quietly removed. The canary is dead.

      • wildginger@lemmy.myserv.one
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Spoken like a guy who wants to avoid getting in trouble for being a bad person

        Google seems a great fit for you

        • seth@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          We should’ve seen it coming; I just realized I’ve never heard “ogle” used in a positive way, and it’s what the company name is literally commanding us to do. Hindsight is 20/20.

      • Gabu@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        So what you’re saying is that driving a rusty nail through your eyeball into your brain isn’t evil at all, and totally fine to do?