Paywalled, does someone have a copy?
(For now. Why does this work, anyway?)
I'm guessing outline.com has a subscription to WSJ, and can therefore share the content?
The email traffic, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, shows that employees proposed ways to “leverage” search functions and take steps to counter what they considered to be “islamophobic, algorithmically biased results from search terms ‘Islam’, ‘Muslim’, ’Iran’, etc.” and “prejudiced, algorithmically biased search results from search terms `Mexico’, `Hispanic’, `Latino’, etc.”
The email chain, while sprinkled with cautionary notes about engaging in political activity, suggests employees considered ways to harness the company’s vast influence on the internet in response to the travel ban. Google said none of the ideas discussed were implemented.
"These emails were just a brainstorm of ideas, none of which were ever implemented,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. “Google has never manipulated its search results or modified any of its products to promote a particular political ideology—not in the current campaign season, not during the 2016 election, and not in the aftermath of President Trump’s executive order on immigration. Our processes and policies would not have allowed for any manipulation of search results to promote political ideologies.”
Next week Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to meet with state attorneys general to discuss concerns of anticonservative bias. Conservatives recently expressed anger after Breitbart News released a video of a 2016 company meeting in which Google senior managers lamented Mr. Trump’s election victory.
Things are way too polarized in the US right now to discuss politics at work. It's not just right vs left, it's also maybe you aren't right/left enough for your boss/peers.
Sure, you hear jokes about the President and you know who they voted for, but never somebody using a political argument to drive business decisions.
That’s just weird and you’re asking for an HR nightmare.