The fact that there's a large number of employees who signed this document provides great evidence to contradict this claim.
It's kind of a blanket statement - I'm sure a bunch of the folks here on HN work at Google and are trying to do exactly the opposite.
Heck, some of the people who signed off on this document could be HN'ers!
You can sometimes change a corrupt system from the inside. It takes a lot of work and dedication and it certainly doesn't always work out - but it's a choice some people make. It certainly isn't mine! :)
In most companies employees have no freedom of speech unless unionized and not even then. And protesting against projects based on moral principles publicly is a sure way to get you fired.
Unfortunately, that reversal and Facebook's more weakly enforced continuation of the same old type of policy both went mostly unnoticed. (Yes, I realize G+ is going away for consumer accounts in August. This change was years ago.)
As the saying goes, talk is cheap. So is signing a document.
What is not easy to do is putting your money where your mouth is and acting on your convictions, even if they cause you great discomfort.
It's not even a high-risk proposition, given how many other amazing opportunities are available to virtually every knowledge worker at Google.
Yes, but the job probably will pay less, at a smaller scale, with fewer perks, and be less interesting. Instead of judging them, perhaps you should support them in condemning their employer for this particular act.
Tough moral choices always come with a cost.
Taking a stand against collaboration with an oppressive totalitarian regime is much more effective than simply giving up and moving onward.
Things change when people act, not when people move on.