The Technology 202: Software company Basecamp restricts talk of politics and social issues at work

“Sensitivities are at 11, and every discussion remotely related to politics, advocacy, or society at large quickly spins away from pleasant,” he wrote. “You shouldn’t have to wonder if staying out of it means you’re complicit, or wading into it means you’re a target.”

The move follows a similar announcement from cryptocurrency company Coinbase, which last fall sought to restrict political speech by employees. The moves have extended to larger tech companies as well. 

Facebook last year restricted spaces for internal political discussions after employees protested the company’s content moderation policies about hate speech targeting Black users. And Pinterest restricted internal Slack channels being used to question leadership about issues related to race and pay equity, as my colleague Nitasha Tiku reported last year.