Tech execs weren't being totally fair when they trashed Trump's tech policy

Donald Trump is interviewed in New York on April 25, 2011. (Photo: Richard Drew/AP)
donald trump doesn’t have a tech policy to speak of. (Photo: Richard Drew/AP)

One hundred forty-five technology executives, investors, inventors and other bold-face names posted an open letter Thursday to make one thing clear: They can’t stand Donald Trump.

Many people share that sentiment, to judge from the continued high negative approval ratings the presumptive Republican nominee keeps racking up in polls. But “An Open Letter From Technology Sector Leaders On Donald Trump’s Candidacy For President” is a little unfair on one point: Trump doesn’t actually have a coherent technology policy to critique just yet.

What they don’t like

The signers of the document posted Thursday — including eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, internet pioneer Vint Cerf, IAC chairman Barry Diller and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak — declare upfront that “Trump would be a disaster for innovation.”

(This group doesn’t include some high-ranking and otherwise outspoken US tech leaders: Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey have all voiced their thoughts on recent political controversies but did not sign the letter.)

Most of that critique rests on Trump’s calls to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and deport undocumented immigrants and then curb legal immigration, all of which have often been salted with language suggesting Hispanics and Muslims should be feared.

“Great ideas come from all parts of society, and we should champion that broad-based creative potential,” the signers wrote. “Donald Trump, meanwhile, traffics in ethnic and racial stereotypes, repeatedly insults women and is openly hostile to immigration.”

Note that while the tech industry loves to talk about itself as a meritocracy, its own record on ethnic and gender diversity needs improvement — a point that President Barack Obama has made more than once.

The letter also decries Trump’s intention to shut down the parts of the internet used by the ISIS. The letter says this proposal demonstrates “both poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works.”

One early participant in the drafting of the open letter, which began a few weeks ago, said the authors’ overriding concern was Trump’s habit of focusing on how things used to be.

“We cannot thrive or lead (or perhaps even survive) by continuing to aim at being the best at what we used to be the best at,” Washington startup hub 1776 co-founder Donna Harris wrote in an e-mail. “We need leaders who can acknowledge that.”

What they — and we — don’t know

Towards the end, this short document pivots to admit that critiquing Trump’s tech policy amounts to wrestling with shadows.