Framework, the maker of repairable laptops, is embroiled in a controversy, as the company and its CEO are openly supporting people with, well, questionable views.
If you know a little bit about PR in social media space, you might note that, right out of the gate, a project by a vocal white nationalist known for splitting communities by their mere presence, is not a great highlight choice for an overtly non-left-right-political company like Framework. Does it get worse from here? Sadly, it does.
↫ Arya Bread Crumbs
The questionable views we’re talking about here are… Let’s just say we’re not talking about milquetoast stuff like “we should be a bit stricter with immigration” or “lower taxes on the rich”, but views that are far, far outside of the mainstream in most places in the world.
Let’s ditch the superlatives and review David’s post objectively:
- He thinks that even if you were born in the UK, you only count as British if you’re white.
- He wouldn’t consider living in London specifically because it has too many people of color.
- He uses racist tropes to accuse Asian men of being dangerous predators who attack white women.
- He pushes debunked conspiracy theories about immigrants replacing white people.
- He finds a march where speakers called for banning all non-Christian religions and ethnically cleansing immigrants “heartwarming”.
- Finally — and maybe most alarmingly — he argues that all of the above is normal and not extreme.
You can use whatever word you want to describe all that. But if you, like me, didn’t realize that this is who DHH is, we can probably agree that he’s way worse than we thought.
↫ Jake Lazaroff
Framework has stated in no uncertain terms that it is supporting and embracing people like this. That’s a choice they are entirely free to make, but I, and many with me, then, are entirely free to choose not to buy and/or promote products by Framework. I still sincerely hope that all of this is just a massive breakdown of PR and common sense at Framework and its CEO, but since they’ve already doubled-down, I’m not holding my breath. This whole thing is going to haunt them, especially since I’m fairly sure a huge chunk of their community and users – who are buying into hardware that is, in truth, overpriced – are not even remotely aligned with such extremist views.
[ERORI] Idrauilico