In August 2017 a memo that was circulating internally throughout Google was released to the public. The multi-page document included a manifesto by the author, James Damore, detailing the diversity and inclusion policies in place and offering his commentary about their shortcomings as he perceived them. The memo gained attention primarily because of Damore’s pseudo-science claims that women were less able to deal with stress and not biologically able to take on high level tech jobs.
Two distinct debates erupted on Twitter. The first was the perceived merits and shortcomings of what was written within the memo itself and the second was a discussion of freedom of speech after it came to light that Damore was fired from Google following its release. These debates centered around the #GoogleMemo hashtag.
Support for Damore
There were a portion of tweets which were sympathetic towards Damore and his subsequent unemployment.
I'm a woman and a programmer (that shouldn't be relevant, but somehow it is) & I agree 100% with James Damore. #GoogleManifesto #googlememo
— Ewa Janikowska (@ejanikow) August 9, 2017
#JamesDamore if you see this I agree with you 100%. Liberals hate anyone who goes against their narrative. #googlememo makes sense.
— Daniel (@eljefe169) August 7, 2017
#googlememo Clearly, James Damuro shouldn't have been fired for his complaint. His piece was so mild. I hope he robs Google of millions.
— Trick "Throw Commies Out of Helicopters" QM (@TrickQM) August 8, 2017
Anti-Memo
Another portion of Twitter users voiced their distaste for the ideas Damore expressed and pointed out the scientific inconsistencies in the “facts” he presented.
As a woman in tech, I have seen no evidence we are less capable or 'biologically' unsuited for tech or leadership positions.#googlememo
— Madli Kaju (@MadliKaju) August 8, 2017
As a woman who actually works in & has been successful in a STEM career, this guy has NO idea what he is talking about. #googlememo https://t.co/yHBCYJWdOU
— Mina | Unseal The Deals (@minasmith64) August 6, 2017
Ex-Google bro James Damore says his #googlememo was "science." @jetjocko & @MeganMolteni explain: no, not so much https://t.co/JItKDDGpge
— Arielle Pardes (@pardesoteric) August 15, 2017
Overall, the tweets in favor of Damore’s memo applauded the memo as a whole whereas those in disagreement mostly pointed out individual facts that were untrue.