My comment was about the 1200 workers who condemned the firing.
There have been similar recent public statements such as MS workers about use of AI for the pentagon, FB employees on content, etc..
Simply I mean the best way to support a wrongfully ousted ethicist would be to leave yourself, rather than keep getting paid by the execs who wronged her.
The work of AI ethics - especially in the vein of Timnit Gebru - is essential. My statement, was one of support for her.
I find the semi-regular condemnations from employees of big tech companies hollow. If you work for one of these companies and find their behavior unsavory, go work somewhere else - this is actually what might cause executives at these companies to reflect on how they might change course.
The fact that most of these employees could easily get well paying (just not as _ridiculously well paying_) jobs elsewhere to me feels like they are not staying out of necessity, rather they are looking to assuage their conscious through statements like these, and continue collecting their exorbitant pay.
One interesting aspect of FB's externalized cost structure is that the damage is both to society (like pollution as you mention) and also the individual consumer (more like cigarettes) because the product is designed to be addictive and while releasing momentary dopamine to the user, makes them more depressed on the whole.
When I was an engineer in NYC my taxable income was about the following: 1. ~35% federal 2. ~8% state 3. ~3% city
Don't forget sales tax!