Google and Amazon Employees Protest $1.2 Billion Israeli Government Contracts: Disruptions Lead to Terminations

Sunnyvale, New York, California, New York United States of America
About 100 employees participated in the protests.
Google and Amazon employees protested $1.2 billion contracts with Israeli government for AI and cloud services.
Google terminated employment of 28 employees who participated in protests. Some were forcibly removed by law enforcement.
No Tech for Apartheid organization led the campaign against the contracts.
Project Nimbus linked to denial of basic rights, forced displacement, and actions prompting war crime investigations.
Protests disrupted employee work and prevented access to offices, leading to terminations. About 80 people participated in Sunnyvale protest.
Protests took place at Google offices in New York, Sunnyvale, and Seattle.
Google and Amazon Employees Protest $1.2 Billion Israeli Government Contracts: Disruptions Lead to Terminations

Google and Amazon Employees Protest Against $1.2 Billion Contracts with Israeli Government

In a series of protests that took place on April 17, 2024, at Google offices in New York, Sunnyvale, and Seattle, over 100 employees staged sit-ins to voice their opposition to the tech giants' involvement in Project Nimbus - a $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government for AI and cloud services.

According to reports from The Verge, Bloomberg, Kron4, and The Guardian, Google terminated the employment of 28 employees who participated in these protests. Some protesters occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian until they were forcibly removed by law enforcement.

The protests disrupted employee work and prevented access to offices, leading to terminations. About 80 people participated in the Sunnyvale protest, according to police reports.

The No Tech for Apartheid organization led the campaign against Google and Amazon's contracts with the Israeli government. The group claims that these contracts allow for further surveillance of Palestinians and facilitate expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

Google employees have previously spoken out against violations of core values, including Project Maven, a military AI project that was later canceled due to employee backlash. Amazon workers also expressed their moral obligation to speak out against the Israeli military contract.

Project Nimbus was signed during the same week as Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip, which killed nearly 250 people including over 60 children. The technology sold to the Israeli military and government under Project Nimbus has been linked to denial of basic rights, forced displacement, and actions prompting war crime investigations by the international criminal court.

Google's statement regarding the protests reads: “These protests were part of a longstanding campaign by a group of organizations and people who largely don't work at Google. A small number of employee protesters entered and disrupted a few of our locations. Physically impeding other employees' work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior.”

Google did not specify how many of the 28 terminated employees worked in the Bay Area.

The protests were part of a string of actions that happened across the Bay Area this week. Thirty-eight people were arrested on Monday for blocking off the Golden Gate Bridge and highways in Oakland.

Google is planning additional layoffs, according to multiple reports.


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Confidence

91%

Doubts
  • How many employees participated in the protests across all locations?
  • Were all 28 terminated employees directly involved in the protests?
  • What was the exact reason given by Google for the terminations?

Sources

99%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Google fires 28 employees after sit-in protest over Israel cloud contract

The Verge Alex Heath Thursday, 18 April 2024 03:03
  • Unique Points
    • Google fired 28 employees for their involvement in sit-in protests at two of its offices.
    • Some employees occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian until they were forcibly removed by law enforcement.
    • Nine employees were suspended and then arrested during the protests in New York and California.
  • Accuracy
    • ]Google fired 28 employees for their involvement in sit-in protests at two of its offices.[
    • Google terminated the employment of 28 employees who participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with Amazon to provide AI and cloud services to the Israeli government.
    • 28 Google employees were terminated due to their participation in protests at company facilities in Sunnyvale and New York.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

99%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Google Fires Employees Protesting $1.2 Billion Contract With Israel

Bloomberg News Now Davey Alba, Thursday, 18 April 2024 07:30
  • Unique Points
    • Google terminated the employment of 28 employees who participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with Amazon to provide AI and cloud services to the Israeli government.
    • Protesters in New York and California staged a nearly 10-hour sit-in.
  • Accuracy
    • ]Google fired 28 employees for their involvement in sit-in protests at two of its offices.[
    • Protests were organized by the 'No Tech for Apartheid' campaign against Google and Amazon's contracts with the Israeli government.
    • Some employees joined in the protests, while others had their work impeded.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

85%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

28 Google employees laid off after Sunnyvale, NY protests

KRON News Bay Area Phil Mayer Thursday, 18 April 2024 03:07
  • Unique Points
    • 28 Google employees were terminated due to their participation in protests at company facilities in Sunnyvale and New York.
    • 'No Tech for Apartheid' campaign against Google and Amazon's contracts with the Israeli government.
    • Protests disrupted employee work and prevented access to offices, leading to terminations.
    • About 80 people participated in the Sunnyvale protest, according to police reports.
    • Protesters went inside the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian during the protest.
  • Accuracy
    • Google fired 28 employees for their involvement in sit-in protests at two of its offices.
    • Google terminated the employment of 28 employees who participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with Amazon to provide AI and cloud services to the Israeli government.
  • Deception (50%)
    The author makes editorializing statements by using the phrases 'clear violation of our policies' and 'completely unacceptable behavior'. He also uses emotional manipulation by implying that Google values its contract with Israel more than its employees. The article reports selectively on the protests, focusing only on those that disrupted work and ignoring any potential valid reasons for the protests. The author does not provide any peer-reviewed studies or facts to support his claims.
    • This flagrant act of retaliation is a clear indication that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military more than its own workers.
    • The actions were a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior.
  • Fallacies (85%)
    The author makes an appeal to authority by quoting the 'No Tech for Apartheid' campaign and attributing their statements as facts. This is a fallacy known as 'Appeal to Authority'. The author also uses inflammatory rhetoric by describing Google's actions towards the protesters as a 'flagrant act of retaliation' and stating that Google values its contract with Israel more than its own workers. These statements are not based on facts and are intended to elicit an emotional response from the reader.
    • This flagrant act of retaliation is a clear indication that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military more than its own workers
    • these protests were part of a longstanding campaign by a group of organizations and people who largely don’t work at Google
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

72%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

We are Google and Amazon workers. We condemn Project Nimbus | Anonymous Google and Amazon workers

theguardian.com Article URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/13/ pakistan-·coalition-·agrees-to-form-government Tuesday, 12 October 2021 16:15
  • Unique Points
    • Google and Amazon employees have condemned Project Nimbus, a $1.2bn contract between the companies and the Israeli military and government.
    • The contract allows for further surveillance of Palestinians and facilitates expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
    • More than 90 Google employees and over 300 Amazon employees have signed a letter internally expressing their moral obligation to speak out against violations of core values.
    • Project Nimbus was signed the same week as Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 250 people including over 60 children.
    • The technology sold to the Israeli military and government under Project Nimbus has been linked to denial of basic rights, forced displacement, and actions prompting war crime investigations by the international criminal court.
  • Accuracy
    • Google fired 28 employees for their involvement in sit-in protests at two of its offices.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (85%)
    The author uses an appeal to emotion by describing the actions of the Israeli military and government towards Palestinians as 'crueler and deadlier' and 'deny Palestinians their basic rights'. This is an attempt to elicit an emotional response from readers rather than presenting a logical argument. The author also makes a dichotomous depiction by portraying Google, Amazon, and technology workers as morally obligated to stop contracts with militarized organizations while the Israeli military and government are depicted as harming communities. This oversimplification of complex issues can be misleading.
    • ]We cannot look the other way, as the products we build are used to deny Palestinians their basic rights, force Palestinians out of their homes and attack Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – actions that have prompted war crime investigations by the international criminal court.[
    • Project Nimbus is a $1.2bn contract to provide cloud services for the Israeli military and government. This technology allows for further surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians, and facilitates expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
  • Bias (0%)
    The author expresses a clear political bias against the Israeli military and government by condemning Google and Amazon for signing a contract with them. The author also uses language that depicts the Israeli military as 'discriminatory', 'deadly for Palestinians', and responsible for 'actions that have prompted war crime investigations'.
    • actions that have prompted war crime investigations by the international criminal court.
      • These contracts harm the communities of technology workers and users alike.
        • This technology allows for further surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians,
          • We condemn Amazon and Google’s decision to sign the Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli military and government,
          • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Author Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication