US abortion ruling discussions turn contentious inside tech giants

An abortion-rights protester at a candlelight vigil for reproductive freedom and abortion rights outside the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 26, 2022. Discussion of abortion can be contentious in any environment, but conversations about such matters take on added resonance in the technology industry, where many staffers have grown accustomed to open and sometimes free-wheeling conversations in internal communications channels, such as Slack. — AP

Inside some technology industry bellwethers, discussion of the US Supreme Court decision overturning abortion rights turned contentious on June 24, prompting managers to take steps to quell discord.

At Amazon.com Inc, employees clashed on company message boards, debating the meaning of passages from the Old Testament, according to exchanges reviewed by Bloomberg. One person accused colleagues of harassment. Amazon senior vice-president Beth Galetti sent a memo acknowledging “strong emotions” felt by some of its 1.6 million employees and saying “we work to be respectful of everyone’s perspectives while also taking care of and supporting our employees’ personal medical needs”.