Protesters Disrupt Amazon Event Over Its Ties With ICE -- Update
July 11 2019 - 7:09PM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Castellanos
NEW YORK -- Protesters disrupted an Amazon.com Inc. event
Thursday, voicing opposition to the company's ties to entities that
enforce the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal
immigration.
Groups of demonstrators rallied outside the Amazon Web Services
Summit at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, a free event open
to the public. Inside, dozens of protesters in the audience
interrupted a keynote speech by Amazon Chief Technology Officer
Werner Vogels five times before they were guided out.
Mr. Vogels declined to comment on the protests.
An Amazon representative said in an emailed statement: "There is
clearly a need for more clarity from governments on what is
acceptable use of [artificial intelligence] and ramifications for
its misuse, and we've provided a proposed legislative framework for
this. We remain eager for the government to provide this additional
clarity and legislation."
Other companies that have been the target of protests due to
their links to immigration enforcement include Microsoft Corp. and
Wayfair Inc.
Last year, some Amazon employees called on corporate leaders to
end partnerships with companies that work with Immigration and
Customs Enforcement.
When asked last month whether Amazon's cloud division works with
ICE, Amazon Web Services Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the
company doesn't disclose the identities of customers who don't give
it permission to do so. "We will serve the federal government, and
they're going to have to use the technology responsibly," he said
in an interview with journalist Kara Swisher at a Recode
conference.
Social and political issues are becoming more important for
technology companies, shaping perceptions of reputation and
brand.
"Large tech companies play a vital role in our modern economy
and as such cannot avoid being entangled in important social
issues, which often have no easy answer," said Jonathan Gruber, a
Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist.
The protesters at the Amazon event cited media reports that
Amazon Web Services provides the underlying technology and
infrastructure for several companies that work with ICE. The agency
is expected to round up thousands of undocumented migrants across
the country starting on Sunday, according to administration
officials.
Amazon leaders are "choosing to be complicit" in the detention,
deportation and deaths of immigrants, including children, said
Angeles Solis, lead organizer of Make the Road New York, one of the
groups that organized the protest.
"Amazon needs to recognize and see the harm they're
perpetuating," Ms. Solis said, adding that hundreds of protesters
attended the event. The New York Police Department said it doesn't
provide crowd estimates.
The protesters who disrupted Mr. Vogels's two-hour speech about
cloud computing played audio excerpts of children being separated
from their parents at a border patrol facility, obtained by
ProPublica last year. Mr. Vogels stopped his presentation for
several seconds as protesters yelled chants such as "cut ties with
ICE."
"I'm more than willing to have a conversation but maybe you
should let me finish first," Mr. Vogels said at one point.
While companies have the right to make business decisions,
consumers, employees and shareholders have the right to protest
those decisions, said Daniel Castro, vice president of the
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington
think tank whose board includes Amazon officials and other tech
industry leaders.
"But it would be unfortunate if doing business with the U.S.
government becomes so polarizing that America's best tech companies
are forced to the sidelines," Mr. Castro said.
--Angus Loten contributed to this article.
Write to Sara Castellanos at sara.castellanos@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 11, 2019 18:54 ET (22:54 GMT)
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