Week 1 - NDM

BBC News - Google sued over 'sex discrimination'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41274202

This article from the 14th September discusses a lawsuit filed by three women from San Francisco who have accused Google of paying female employees less than their male colleagues for the same work. It also states that they are given "more limited promotion" and "fewer advancement opportunities" than men, even though they have equal qualifications. Kelly Ellis, one of the three women filing suit, says, "it is time to stop ignoring these issues in tech." She also tweeted that she hopes the suit will force Google and other companies to address the issue and change their policies.

• About 70% of Google's workforce are men
• Men represent about 80% of staff in 'tech' roles and 75% of leadership permissions
• A spreadsheet with data from 1,200 employees found disparities between male and female salaries.

Personally I think this is an issue that needs addressing as soon as possible in all places of work. I also agree with Ms Ellis that tech is an industry where this issue tends to be overlooked and the focus is generally on the film/TV industry or in medical professions. I think that people take companies like Google for granted and forget that there are thousands of people behind the scenes working for them. I think they are right to file suit because in a sense it exposes Google and lets the public see the reality of its behaviour and its policies.

BBC News - Reddit troll ban helped cut hateful speech

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41265544

This article argues that if websites close down the areas where internet trolls tend to gather, the spread of abusive comments on social media might stop.

It uses Reddit as an example, recalling how after closing down offensive chat forums on the site, many people closed their Reddit accounts or altered their language when speaking online. However, it was noted that there was not much of a difference noticed on other sites besides Reddit.

• On the two main banned subreddits, 41% and 33% of users respectively stopped posting or deleted their accounts.
• The remainder that stayed also moderated their speech by as much as 80%.

Personally I think that being harsh and closing down chat forums and websites and cutting off a troll's resources with no negotiation is a good way to try and stop the constant hate that is seen frequently on social media. However, since this method seemed not to have much of an effect beyond Reddit, maybe it's time for other sites to think of something else to combat online abuse.