It sounds like Facebook will be the next tech giant to cut ties with the notorious Right-wing lobbying group ALEC. In a statement that was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Facebook is reported as having said:
“We reevaluate our memberships on an annual basis, and are in that process now. While we have tried to work within ALEC to bring that organization closer to our view on some key issues, it seems unlikely that we will make sufficient progress so we are not likely to renew our membership in 2015.”
This comes on the heels of Google’s Eric Schmidt announcing on NPR’s Diane Rehm show that Google felt it had made a mistake in partnering with the conservative lobbying group.
“We funded them as part of a political campaign for something unrelated. I think the consensus within the company was that that was some sort of a mistake and so we’re trying not to do that in the future,” said Schmidt.
Google’s reasons for cutting ties with the group centered on the groups position on climate change science.
“The company [Google] has a very strong view that we should make decisions in politics based on facts – what a shock. And the facts of climate change are not in question anymore,” Schmidt said. “Everyone understands climate change is occurring and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and make the world a much worse place. And so we should not be aligned with such people [ALEC] – They’re just, they’re just literally lying.”
It seems that a trend has started with big tech companies to get out of Dodge when it comes to ALEC. Google has abandoned them. Facebook is likely about to say goodbye. Will the other tech giants follow?
