Every time there is a vote on ICE, the exact minimum number of Democrats required to pass the issue vote in support. That is true even when they hold a majority. Your post makes it sound like that is a carefully orchestrated phantasm.

I want to present an alternative explanation.

I can't, but I want to.

Being delicious food is a competitive advantage; just ask fruit. Domesticated farm animals in general are really nice. I grew up in a time and place of family farms, where animals were given a good life from people who cared, before becoming delicious food.

These aren't the kind of saber-rattling disputes that make it to trial (or even go beyond the sternly worded letters stage). Neither side wants to fight it in court, because it's a murky. The most noteworthy recent curtailing of it was when SCOTUS went 5-4 in favor of religion over profit in Hobby Lobby, which is hardly a strong case for board independence.

"The company says it may share user information in limited emergencies if it believes disclosure is necessary to prevent death or serious physical injury."

Also keep in mind: Your chat logs are company assets. Even if today's decision makers believe maintaining user trust is net profitable, that will not always be true. Some day, maybe when the pullback comes and the wolves are at the gates, or when they sell the company, or when a shareholder action asserts fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value, your chat logs will be sold and mined in the most lucrative way possible. The way that extracts the most value from you, the product.

Your disgust is valid. But the developer generally has no gall, and no agency. The corporation tells them to pack and monetize the clickthroughs like feeding puppies into a sausage machine. The developer never thought that would be the job.

In fact, every time you don't see something like this, it's because some developer said, "Enough, I won't do this," putting their job (and their next rent payment) on the line. I lost two jobs that way.

Don't let them divide us. The fascist oligarchs are the villains.

As an American living in France: I came here because France is better than this.

En tant qu’Américain vivant en France : je suis venu ici parce que la France est mieux que cela.

Pas du tout, c'est la faute de les oligarches fachos, qui viennent principalement de mon pays.