Sure I believe that, but I think because of the way these companies operate internally and because of the extraordinary amount of transparency and voice given to employees employees (particularly at Google and Facebook where I have worked), these companies would be amongst the most difficult for a hypothetical fascist US gov to use for nefarious purposes. I've worked at 3 other large US tech companies (Qualcomm, Intel, APC) besides these, and they are radically more ethically malleable and able to conceal bad things from their employees.

All of them have done and are doing ethically questionable things already, and they really haven't had much trouble keeping people working there. Google and Facebook would be the first two I'd expect to go along with whatever awfulness, if they're not driving it themselves.

Perhaps this is cultural difference at play here, before you downvote this comment to oblivion I'd like you to hear me out.

In India, we were expected to create value for our stakeholders, and bringing personal political views into office is deemed highly unprofessional. This doesn't stop the junior talents that are highly influenced by foreign media to have a go at it, but they're often silenced with righteous resolve.

Tldr: Employees that openly engages in activism are often seen as problematic elements, which severely degrade the cohesion and unity of a company, therefore they're often the first on the chopping block. Are things different in the states?

> This doesn't stop the junior talents that are highly influenced by foreign media

I don't understand. They are not influenced by the local media, somehow? Only "foreign" one? What is the magical mechanism behind that?

And of course, it's only "activism" when it does against the accepted order. The activism supporting current powers flows much more smoothly and does not cause any such ripples, so you conclude it does not exist?

> bringing personal political views into office is deemed highly unprofessional

Ethics are not politics. Engineers should be required to refuse unethical orders and work.

This isnt cultural. This "deemed unprofessional" and "silenced with righteous resolve" is just reflective of the relative power differential between employee and employer. It's an artefact of capitalism.

It also doesnt happen when the employee has more power.