OKCupid asks users to boycott Firefox because of CEO's gay rights stance

[El]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/31/5568136/okcupid-asks-users-to-boycott-firefox-because-of-ceos-gay-rights

Anyone accessing the popular dating site OKCupid with Firefox today is in for a surprise. Instead of the homepage, OKCupid.com is serving Firefox users with a message calling out Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich for his support of California's Proposition 8, highlighted by a $1000 donation made in 2008. "Mozilla’s new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples," the message tells users. "We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid."

It's not the first controversy the incoming CEO has faced. Last week, one of Mozilla's board members resigned over the Proposition 8 donation. (Eich responded by acknowledging their concerns, but refusing to step down.) Still, this is the strongest outcry that has come from another site, using the browser ID tags to effectively boycott the Firefox browser. The message allows OKCupid users to continue to the site via a link at the bottom, but not before they've seen download links for the other four major browsers and a very strong call to action: "Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure."

Update: Mozilla has responded to OKCupid's letter with an official statement: "Mozilla supports equality for all, including marriage equality for LGBT couples. No matter who you are or who you love, everyone deserves the same rights and to be treated equally. OKcupid never reached out to us to let us know of their intentions, nor to confirm facts."

["couldbecousin"]

  So has Eich changed his mind?  I'd be interested in hearing what he has to say. 

[El]

  So has Eich changed his mind?  I'd be interested in hearing what he has to say. 

I'm guessing he loves money more than he hates gays?

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

That's just ridiculous. If I got preachy message from a site because I use a certain browser I'd abandoned that site in a heartbeat. I'll be the controversial one here to say who cares if he doesn't support gay marriage? That's his choice and I'm still going to use firefox, no fucks given and no-one is going to extort me to do otherwise. Only if I was actually paying for the goods/service and the money was ending up in something malicious I'd change my mind on that.

[odeon]

Yup. I wouldn't use that site again.

[Arya Quinn]

Its his choice to oppose gay marriage. I tolerate most beliefs, its only enforcing them on others and using those beliefs to justify acts of violence and hatred that I don't tolerate. So I'm still going to use Firefox, unless it begins to cram anti-gay messages down my throat (highly unlikely)

[Dexter Morgan]

Now I am going to watch Duck Dynasty online through Firefox while eating Chik-fil-a.

[odeon]

I'm posting this using Firefox.

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

Heh, the same guy who is the CEO of Mozilla also created javascript. Good luck trying to boycott that. Might do the internet a favor if they did.

[Semicolon]

Heh, the same guy who is the CEO of Mozilla also created javascript. Good luck trying to boycott that. Might do the internet a favor if they did.

Set Firefox to disable Javascript.

["couldbecousin"]

Heh, the same guy who is the CEO of Mozilla also created javascript. Good luck trying to boycott that. Might do the internet a favor if they did.

Set Firefox to disable Javascript.

      You're not helping. 

[odeon]

And he resigned.

Why is it that freedom of speech only seems to be acceptable if you agree with what's being said?

[Dexter Morgan]

Americans, especially the young, care about identity politics way too much.  When is the last time you heard about a CEO in this country resigning over public pressure due to something that they're directly responsible for, like unfair wages?

[El]

And he resigned.

Why is it that freedom of speech only seems to be acceptable if you agree with what's being said?

He still had (and has) freedom of speech.  He wasn't facing legal action for doing something politically unpopular (let's pretend that counts as "speech" in the first place); he was facing public backlash.  Firefox could have kept him on, but they didn't want to piss off their customers.  I fail to see how anyone's freedom of speech was affected.   

Americans, especially the young, care about identity politics way too much.  When is the last time you heard about a CEO in this country resigning over public pressure due to something that they're directly responsible for, like unfair wages?

THAT is the best point in this thread thus far IMO.

[Parts]

Let's boycott Firefox because he resigned