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9 Aug, 2017 22:53

‘Censorship is for losers’: Assange offers fired Google engineer job at WikiLeaks

‘Censorship is for losers’: Assange offers fired Google engineer job at WikiLeaks

Julian Assange is offering the Google engineer fired over a controversial memo, deemed to be in breach of the company’s diversity code, a job at WikiLeaks.

The WikiLeaks founder and chief tweeted, “Censorship is for losers,” before adding that there was a job for fired Google software engineer James Damore at his whistleblowing organization.

Damore came under fire after an internal memo he wrote, arguing that women are underrepresented in tech not due to bias, but because of inherent psychological differences from men, was published online.

Entitled Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber, it suggests that the company’s political bias has created the effect of “shaming into silence.”

“This silencing has created an ideological echo chamber where some ideas are too sacred to be honestly discussed,” and the lack of discussion brings about “the most extreme and authoritarian elements of this ideology,” the memo says.

“We need to stop assuming that gender gaps imply sexism,” Damore adds, suggesting that men have a higher drive for status and women have a “higher agreeableness,” leading to difficulties in salary negotiation.

READ MORE: Gender gap is natural, Google employee says in 10-page ‘internally viral’ memo

The memo caused a media storm over the weekend with many branding it sexist.

On Tuesday, Damore confirmed he had been let go by the company in an email which stated the reason for dismissal was “perpetuating gender stereotypes.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees Monday that parts of Damore's memo "violate our Code of Conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace."

Assange posted a series of tweets criticizing Google for firing someone for “politely expressing their ideas.”

He included a link to an extract from his 2014 book, “When Google met WikiLeaks,” in the tweets.

The excerpt, entitled, “Google is not what it seems,” outlines Assange’s understanding of the relationship between Google and the US State Department.

READ MORE: ‘Putting people at risk': Assange’s lawyer criticizes new documentary on WikiLeaks founder

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