I don’t agree with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s stances, but I also feel like keeping a list of each state that violates human rights is not in Tim Cook’s or Sundar Pichai’s job description. If we are just being honest with ourselves the list of countries in which you can do business approaches 0 if we call out the violators. Secondly, the last time I checked a company’s mandate is to abide by the laws of the country in which it conducts business and to make a profit for shareholders. I’m all for exceeding this goal, but it should not be incumbent upon a company to follow the geopolitical climate and react.
> Not a perfect one, but if enough people want something, they have the tools to make it happen.
Not if they live in heavily gerrymandered districts or in deep-blue/red states, or if they are affected by voter disenfranchisement, or if they cannot afford leave their job to go to vote.
As long as people enjoy the products well enough in practice they'll agree (enough). Diamonds, Chocolate, borderline slave labor with no environmental laws providing cheap electronics to name a few.
This isn't a case of keeping a list of abusive states, it's a case of hosting an app which is literally part of the mechanism by which an abusive state abuses people.
A lot of assumptions here. Do they know that is the explicit purpose of the app? Has it been reported? Again I don’t agree with their policies, but who’s job is it to keep track? I would think the press. However since the business mandate seems to be peddling outrage it’s easy for things to get lost in the Twittersphere.
According to Business Insider's reporting, in addition to setting travel restrictions for dependents (which includes adult women in KSA), the app also allows you to pay parking tickets.
