Luckey’s alt- right views create social media stir
Californian’s contribution to right- wing meme group draws backlash from Facebook, Twitter— and Oculus developers
Little about Palmer Freeman Luckey’s outward demeanor screams dangerous political provocateur.
The 24- year- old creator of virtual reality headset company Oculus Rift, which Facebook bought for $ 2 billion in 2014, could at best be charged with murdering a dress code. Luckey favors flip- flops and T- shirts at work and was barefoot for a 2015
Time cover shoot. Yet that laid- back California vibe masks right- leaning political views that have gotten Luckey into hot water of late, as some in the largely liberal tech sector call for the engineer’s head while developers vow to stop building programs for Oculus.
Thursday, The Daily Beast reported Luckey had donated $ 10,000 to Nimble America, a conservative non- profit with a mission to develop memes to attack Hillary Clinton. One was a billboard outside Pittsburgh that featured a distorted image of Clinton with the caption, “too big to jail.”
Friday night, Luckey, whose net worth is $ 700 million, took to Facebook to apologize for actions
that were “negatively impacting the perceptions of Oculus and its partners.” Luckey explained he contributed because he thought Nimble America “had fresh ideas” on communicating with young voters. He denied Daily Beast’s claim that he was a founder of Nimble America.
Luckey added that he considered himself a Libertarian and a fan of Ron Paul and that he would be voting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president.
While Luckey hasn’t been nearly as vocal about his politics as fellow tech entrepreneur and Libertarian Peter Thiel, insights into his views can be gleaned from tweets he has liked. These include alt- right comments on topics from immigration to Gamergate, according to news site Motherboard.
For example, on Sept. 12, Luckey liked a tweet by right- wing blogger Mike Cernovich that criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for speaking at a gender- segregated mosque.
A few days later, Luckey liked a tweet by Nicole Edelman— aka Nikki Moxxi, a woman Luckey allegedly has been dating for years and who is known for tweets mocking SJWs, or social justice warrior protesters. Ridiculing “SJWs” is a shared trait of Twitter users who mocked female video- game critics.
Edelman’s liked tweet linked to a Trump campaign press release accusing Clinton of promoting “birther” claims against Barack Obama in 2008.
By his accounts, Luckey’s world view was formed in a shielded environment. Raised in Long Beach, Luckey was home- schooled by hismother. His father worked for a car dealership.
While at California State UniversityLong Beach, he interned at the University of Southern California’s mixed reality lab. That move would seal his future, as Luckey would go on to create a rudimentary virtual reality headset.
While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has not yet weighed into the matter, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe wrote on his Facebook page: “Everyone at Oculus is free to support the issues or causes that matter to them, whether or not we agree with those views. It is important to remember that Palmer acted independently in a personal capacity, and was in no way representing the company.”
A number of VR programmers have responded to Luckey’s conservative donation by announcing they would stop developing for Facebook’s VR device.
“Hey @ oculus, @Palmer Luckey’s actions are unacceptable,” read a tweet from VR game developer Tomorrow Today Labs. “NewtonVR will not be supporting the Oculus Touch as long as he is employed there.”
Perhaps the only hint of Luckey’s sense of conviction came from Iribe, who told USA TODAY: “He’s fun to work with, opinionated when he believes in something and pushes forward forcefully.”