sexual harassment
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Lyft acknowledges its response to sexual harassment has fallen short
Lyft acknowledges that its response to sexual harassment has fallen short in some instances. Despite the ridesharing company's attempts to position itself as a mission-driven brand with a "friendly, hospitality-oriented personality," a growing number of women say they've been harassed by drivers. To make things worse, they say, the company's response is often tone-deaf and insufficient.
Another employee behind the Google Walkout has left the company
One of the leaders of a mass walkout last year in protest of Google's handling of sexual misconduct cases has left the company, Bloomberg reports. Meredith Whittaker was the founder of Google's Open Research Group and served with AI Now, an ethics organization which criticizes the use of technology in areas like policing and surveillance.
Lyft adds in-app 911 and prominent license plates to its safety tools
Lyft is joining Uber in responding to the death of a college student with improved safety features. To begin with, it's adding an Uber-style option to call 911 from within the app -- if there's an emergency, you won't have to switch apps or lose track of your whereabouts. This should be available in the "coming weeks." Lyft will also require feedback for any rating under four stars, so it should be clearer when a driver's behavior is problematic.
Victim group says UK's revenge porn laws aren't working
The UK's move to treat revenge porn as a specific crime was supposed to catch perpetrators who'd otherwise slip through the cracks, but that doesn't appear to have worked out in practice. The Revenge Porn helpline has collected police data showing that the number of related charges dropped 23 percent between the periods of 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 despite the number of investigations more than doubling over the same space of time. Just 158 people faced charges, the helpline said. The shortfall is pinned on both shortcomings in the law itself as well as a lack of understanding from police.
Google makes it easier for employees to report harassment
Google is making it easier for employees to file harassment and discrimination complaints by setting up a dedicated site for them to do so. Melonie Parker, the company's chief diversity officer, wrote in a letter to employees that Google has firmed up some of the commitments it made in November following an outcry from employees.
How Google's scandals gave rise to the tech labor movement
2018 proved to be a momentous year for employee activism at some of the world's biggest tech companies. Google, Amazon and Microsoft all found themselves under fire from their staffs over a variety of social and policy issues. Silicon Valley's rank-and-file workers have made their voices heard and have started to bring about tangible changes within their firms, on everything from preventing sexual harassment and cooperation with law enforcement to surveillance technology and user data. 2019 looks to be more of the same.
Lawsuit accuses Google of hefty payouts to execs accused of misconduct
Google's handling of sexual misconduct by executives is coming under more scrutiny thanks to new details emerging from a shareholder lawsuit. Investors have claimed Google chief Larry Page granted Android creator Andy Rubin a $150 million stock grant without seeking approval of the board first, even though Rubin was under an investigation at the time. Page instead got "rubber stamp" approval eight days after the fact, according to the suit. It's not certain if he was aware of the investigation.
Pew Research: Online harassment rife among young, women
A recent study by the Pew Research group finds that online harassment is exceedingly common, with forty percent of adult Internet users claiming they have been the target of some form of harassment. The study differentiates between "less severe" and "more severe" forms of harassment. While the former includes things like name calling, the latter includes stalking and death threats. According to the study, of those who claim to be victims of harassment, 45 percent claim to fall into the "more severe" category. Those rates are especially high among young women, the study finds, as 26 percent of female Internet users polled claimed to have been stalked online, while 25 percent claim to have been the target of online sexual harassment.
Tinder co-founder hits company with sexual harassment lawsuit
The corporate culture at Tinder HQ is about to get a public airing, now that its female co-founder and former VP of marketing has raised a lawsuit over allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination. Whitney Wolfe (top right) claims that she was sent inappropriate messages by one of Tinder's male co-founders, Justin Mateen (top left). These messages have been submitted as evidence, as you can probably tell from the spooked tone of the company's official response: "...it has become clear that Mr. Mateen sent private messages to Ms. Wolfe containing inappropriate content. We unequivocally condemn these messages, but believe that Ms. Wolfe's allegations with respect to Tinder and its management are unfounded."
Drama Mamas: Witch hunt
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Mobs and justice don't tend to mix. Drama Mamas, I joined a new guild, and everything was great. People were happy and talkative, they were doing things together, and the guild leader had made it clear people could approach him if they had a problem with his leadership and he would step down if they thought someone would be better. This lasted all of about 2 days after I joined. I came home and was immediately pulled into a conversation where I was told the leader was sexually harassing female members, sending them creepy messages and making them feel unsafe. This was serious, and the first thing I asked was did anyone bring this to him. I got a vague 'he was told' and no more information, so I accepted what they were telling me. They initiated a public vote on the forums to have him removed from the guild, after telling everyone unaware about it (before giving them a chance to hear the leader's side) and expected us to vote based on that.
Opening a dialog about sexism in World of Warcraft
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of being a gamer girl is learning to deal with rampant sexism, without becoming defensive. Just like racism, sexism should not be tolerated, but how do you address it without making the problem worse? Smurphy from Burning Blade brought this up in the forums. Nethaera's response was to shut the thread down before a dialog could really begin on the subject. Although the majority of WoW players are men, there are a number or women who do enjoy the game. Women are often important contributing members of guilds and raids. Perhaps a little known fact about gamer girls is many of us don't like to be hit on or given special favors like spots in raids. Nor do we like to be called honey, baby, or sweetie by complete strangers. We would very much like the same treatment given to our male counterparts. Women do truly enjoy the game, and should be able to feel safe and comfortable in the online environment.
Scalding sake: Itagaki charged with sexual harassment (by real woman)
"Hey baby, can I buy you a drink?" "I don't think so." "You just performed a ten-hit combo ... on my heart." "Oh dear lord." "I wanna put you in a counter hold of love." "Physical violence. I'm strongly considering it." "Do you kick high?" The lead developer of the Dead or Alive series and the forthcoming ball jostling, highbrow-raising epic, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, has been charged with sexual harassment. This one practically writes itself. In the interest of readability and undeniably smug tone, however, rest assured that a human being (more or less) has written all the text that follows. As if drinking on the job and speaking ill of competitors wasn't enough to convince you that Tomonobu Itagaki was a complete failure at being a Japanese stereotype, you may now append "allegedly harasses female ex-employees" to the list (and then note how much better that is than "harasses ex-female employees"). According to Japan's ZakZak and Gamebrink, the Dead or Alive mastermind has been slapped with a 10 million yen ($85,000) sexual harassment charge by a woman claiming to have endured and dodged his wily hands for the duration of her employment between 2003 and September 2006. Itagaki has admitted to having the relationship (much to the chagrin of his wife and kids, no doubt) but insists that the supposed mammary molestation was completely consensual. The reports also imply that Itagaki has been demoted within Team Ninja, a move which could be interpreted as a slap on the wrist or a swift shove out of the spotlight. It looks like the latter tactic hasn't been very effective thus far. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
