Balancing My Moral Values and Ethics
As a first-generation student from a rural town in Peru, now studying in the U.S., this question has been a bit complicated to me because it challenges my personal values in some ways. I believe that my decision about working there is not a question of whether to label the company as “good” or “bad,” but a question of whether I can reconcile this contradiction in my values while still pursuing the life I would like for myself and my family.
This Contradiction is Ethical
Ok, so we know that Meta has had an enormous impact on communication around the world. But we also know that its algorithms perpetuate disinformation, inflame outrage, and direct users into addictive behaviors that we have learned exploit consumers. If I were asked to design this system with the full knowledge that I was contributing to the design for the purposes of manipulating your attention for profit, I would feel that I had contributed to harm.
Readings like the one assigned to us for this class, “Working for Ethically Complicated Organizations,” describe this dilemma in terms of “proximity to wrongdoing.” Yes, you can work at an unethical company, but how will you do it? As we grow into adulthood, our moral responsibility increases, and the extent to which we make decisions directly and intentionally contributes to causing harm does too. Working for these companies brings ethical burdens, but our specific role and closeness to harmful practices modulate how much responsibility we should assume!
What I Could Learn on the Inside
There’s also the question of growth. Meta operates at the cutting edge of AI, VR, and global networking technologies and fields that I specialize in here in the U.S.,and that are highly remunerated, but those tools are hardly ever found in Peru. Jobs like a “UX/UI Designer” or a “HCI engineer” or even a “Product Manager” are extremely hard to find in Peru. So if I were to come back, could I ever apply all the skills and tools I learned in the US to Peru if there are no opportunities for me to challenge myself? Thus, being part of Meta and mastering those skills would prepare me to eventually build more ethical, inclusive technologies for communities like the one I grew up in, where access is very limited. If I can work on projects that focus on accessibility, privacy, or platform well-being, I could avoid being complicit with these wrong practices and push towards a goal of honesty and integrity while also supporting those who need it the most.
The Golden Point
At the end of the day, my choice is deeply personal. For me, accepting a job at Meta would mean carrying ethical contradictions on my shoulders while refusing to let them define my entire story. It would mean using one of the world’s most powerful platforms not just to grow my career but to secure a future of “upward mobility” for my family in Peru and for the underrepresented communities I want to serve.
I would accept the job, not because I am blind to Meta’s flaws, but because I believe in the power that I could produce change in the company, and that duty to my family and my community can coexist with the responsibility to push, however incrementally, for more ethical technologies. That balance will be imperfect, fragile, and at times uncomfortable. But it is my honest opinion.
