Silicon Valley company leaders finally unite to oppose Trump

By Raaghav G R

Posted on February 7, 2017

Trump’s immigration ban on Muslims from seven Muslim majority nations on January 28^th, 2017, sent shock waves throughout the globe. Most of the public knew that Muslims (or foreigners from any other religion for that matter) had occupied the top technical posts in the top technical companies in the US and preventing them from returning to the US would negatively affect the Companies’ productivity. However most of the Silicon Valley leaders had been silent on this issue so far. Netflix’s CEO, Reed Hastings, was the first among the Silicon Valley leaders to break the silence and voice out his concern on Facebook. Read more on Donald Trump

Reed Hasting’s post reads as follows, “Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all. Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe. A very sad week and more to come with the lives of over 600,000 Dreamers here in [an] America under imminent threat. It is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity”.

The public around the globe was anxious to know how other Silicon Valley leaders would react and what steps they would take, regarding this move. Luckily, they have decided to join hands and oppose Trump’s move. In a blog post, the high – profile investor, Sam Altman called on tech leaders to do more to oppose Trump’s move. He said that there were already many actions which Trump has taken, which are objectionable. But the immigration ban on Muslims on January 28^th “is tantamount to a Muslim ban and requires objection”, he wrote.

“I am obviously in favor of safety and rules, but broad – stroke actions, targeted at a specific religious group, is the wrong solution and a first step toward a further reduction in rights”, Altman said.

Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick said that he would discuss this issue with the US President, Donald Trump, during a meeting that he will have with him, this week.

“While every government has their own immigration controls, allowing people from all around the world to come here and make America their home has largely been the U.S.’s policy since its founding. That means this ban will impact many innocent people; an issue that I will raise this coming Friday when I go to Washington for President Trump’s first business advisory group meeting”, Travis Kalanick said.

Lyft CEO, Logan Green was less direct and said, “Throughout our history, Lyft has worked hard to create an inclusive, diverse and conscientious community where all of our drivers and passengers feel welcome and respected. Banning people of a particular religion from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft’s and our nation’s core values”.

Facebook said in a statement today (07/02/2017), “We are assessing the impact on our workforce and determining how best to protect our people and their families from any adverse effects”.

The Silicon Valley leaders, led by Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings and investor Sam Altman have done the right thing by uniting to oppose Trump’s move. This move will lead to loss of productivity for many top technical companies in the US. Ultimately, it will lead to the US’s economy going into a depression. Thereby, leading to loss of jobs, high inflation rates and poor quality of life for the citizens of the US. Hopefully, Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick impresses the impacts of the move upon President, Donald Trump, during his business meeting with him on Friday (10/02/2017) and hopefully, Donald Trump rectifies this action soon for the sake of the US’s economy and for the sake of immigrants in the US. Read more on Startup News

Silicon Valley company leaders finally unite to oppose Trump