The "not in group chat" part was added later after the backlash. The original version of the post said employees can't talk about it, period.
And the severity of the punishment isn't what is being debated here, but the fact that there can be punishment at all.
Without any insider information, it seems equally as likely that they just better clarified what they originally meant versus backtracking in response to backlash.
"Reminding people not to talk about politics and then moving on" doesn't really seem like a "punishment".
Re:Changes at Basecamp
by snotrockets on Monday April 26, 2021 @09:12PM
(#26950541)
No, original post had don't discuss. They backtracked to "not on main", maybe after realizing this could be read as barring protected activities.
a) They explicitly state that employees are allowed to actively discuss these things, just not in group chat.
b) They explicitly state that this isn't "some high consequences zero tolerance policy" and that the consequence for violating the rule will be that you are reminded of the rule.
It's sad that this is the top comment.