Paddy Cosgrave's apology (https://websummit.com/blog/apology-from-paddy-cosgrave-ceo) seemed to me to be balanced, sincere and thoughtful. Although apparently it is not enough to appease the likes of Google, Meta, Intel, Siemens who are boycotting Web Summit because of what his views on a social issue (https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/meta-google-and-stripe...).
Should public technology business leaders refrain from all opinions related to social issues, or just those that are not popular? Given the number of public figures that have expressed unconditional support for one side of an ongoing violent conflict, it appears that it is just unpopular views that are not welcome in the technology business community.
>Cosgrave, the Irish entrepreneur who is also founder of Web Summit, said in a statement Saturday that his personal comments “have become a distraction from the event, and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people who attend.”
Translation: I give in to the blackmail and cancelling, as apparently I can't afford to make a critique on geopolitics AND keep my business. Or rather, I perfectly could do both, but only if I parroted the established view.