[geodel]

I agree. I wonder if people who work or looking to work for companies which make ad/surveillance software and get huge salaries are always different than people who rail against these companies. Or is it just different mode of same people?

[pm90]

For a lot of people the salaries are too good to pass on. And its not hard to rationalize what you are doing. This is kinda why a broader education seems very important to me, so that smart people understand exactly what they are contributing to and can take a reasoned stand.

In other cases, it may be just a small part of an otherwise great organization. e.g. Palantir is used by CIA to track bad actors, but it can also be misused by police depts (hypothetically?). So the developers of the software think they are helping protect their citizens but it may be misused.

[michaelt]

I assume most people working in these industries think the stuff they're working on is fine (or at least represents a benefit to the world on balance) but they choose not to debate this stuff online.

They probably think (a) there's a risk of embarrassing their employer, as such companies often rely on nuanced arguments to justify their actions; (b) they're unlikely to convince anyone, let alone change the community's collective opinion; and (c) they're likely to garner downvotes and similar expressions of disapproval.

[bogomipz]

I'm willing to bet that there are far more people concerned about increasing corporate surveillance than work at FB.