[Ajedi32]

Right, but it should be acknowledged that this is likely an amoral decision on Facebook's part (or more charitably, a pragmatic decision) not an immoral one.

The governments that forced these changes in the first place are of course acting immorally, that's not in dispute.

[echoangle]

I don’t think that’s what amoral means. It’s not malicious but doing something that hurts others just because you gain money from it isn’t amoral just because you’re not doing it just to inflict pain.

Hyperbolic example: If your boss tells you to kill the next customer or you won’t get paid, doing the killing isn’t amoral.

[Ajedi32]

Good point. Even if Facebook is being threatened they're still ultimately responsible for their actions. Maybe amoral isn't the right word to describe this.

I guess it just feels like a lot to me to expect a company to break the law on purpose, even in the service of a greater moral duty. But maybe it shouldn't. Obviously if they did pull out of the UAE and Saudi Arabia over this rather than comply that would be a laudable stand.

[usrnm]

Is working for the military immoral? After all, hurting others is the entire point of the whole thing

[dgellow]

Depending on the country, for sure yes. Working for Russia military is definitely immoral IMHO

[usrnm]

The purpose of every military in the world is hurting people. It's, like, the whole point of their existence, either hurting people right now or preparing to hurt people in the future.

[echoangle]

Hurting people that are invading you isn’t necessarily immoral, hurting other people to gain money or land is.

[dgellow]

I don’t have issues with the hurting part, it’s a very strange thing to pick on. Are you contributing to the invader, imperialist side or are you contributing to defending, resisting oppression? It’s obviously different moral calculus.

[croon]

Which is why context and reasons for specific actions matter.

Shoving my child is sometimes/generally immoral. Shoving my child to get them away from an oncoming bus is moral, and on a swing often encouraged.

More on topic: Hurting others can absolutely be moral for the greater good/if it saves more people. What that is is less clear, and the reasoning can be (and frequently is) abused through lying, but I think it's fairly clear cut in the Russia/Ukraine case referenced.

[nailer]

Facebook acquiscing to dictatorships that block human rights organizations is immoral.

[lostlogin]

It is.

It’s not as bas as the time they helped organise a genocide though, so there is that.