Shouldn't "I care about ethics" just be assumed? How many people do you know who would say "I don't care about ethics"?

Because it identifies which team you are on. People only recognize the existence of a nuanced point if it's made from someone on their own side.

This is purely a power game in which some individuals have managed to blackmail everyone else into recognising their role or being cancelled. Now and then someone prominent needs to be attacked to remind the others what they risk if they don't fall in step.

Computer science programs around the country promise their young, bright-eyed undergrads that they'll change the world. Very few of them teach them the ethics they'll need to do that in a thoughtful way.

The assumption that science and technology is inherently ethical has unfortunately led to dangerous ideas over the past 150 years. Some, like geographic determinism and eugenics, have directly led to the suffering of millions of people. I hope we tread carefully and take action when we see harmful models. [0]

[0] https://twitter.com/SpringerNature/status/127547736519656652...

I think that the underlying assumption is that science and technology are inherently neutral (which isn't true) and that neutrality would be inherently ethical (which also isn't true).

But I didn't say that science and technology are inherently ethical. I said that most people care about ethics. They might have different priorities or philosophy than you, but almost nobody commenting on a social issue is doing so because they want the immoral thing to happen. Right? So asking everyone to say "of course I care, of course" before everything they say is laborious.