Google's Sundar Pichai responds to Charlottesville and Barcelona attacks: 'Terrorism is designed to divide us'

In the wake of the recent race and hate-fuelled attacks across the globe, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has sent out an email to his employees, condemning the violence and calling it "terrorism is designed to divide us".

Pichai's letter, which he posted on Twitter, denounced the string of incidents including the events in Charlottesville that left one woman dead and 19 injured, the van attack in Barcelona in which 13 people were killed and up to 100 were injured, and last week's firing in Burkina Faso that left at least 18 people dead.

As Google itself has been embroiled in a major controversy of anti-diversity, Pichai opened the letter noting that the last week has been "intense" for the company. He didn't elaborate the company event, but added it "pales in comparison" to what was happening in the outside world - the attacks which underscored the "devastating and heartbreaking consequences of hatred, violence, and extremism".

Talking about the tragedy in Charlottesville first, Pichai wrote, "There is no place for this kind of violence of America" and added, "as a company, we stand united in condemnation". Over past few days, several tech giants have stood up against white nationalists and hate groups. Google, in particular, cancelled the registration of a white nationalist site, Daily Stormer, and is pushing further to monitor and delete YouTube videos that celebrate violence.

Turning to the van attack that took place in Barcelona only a few hours ago, Pichai said, "It pains me to see yet another city and its people attacked by senseless hatred". He noted Google's security team has helped several employees get to safety and added the company has also activated SOS alerts, with news, maps, and local information from the police to help people in the Spanish city.

"Terrorism is terrorism and it takes many forms," Pichai, who joined Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Apple's Tim Cook in denouncing violence, wrote in the letter. While concluding the email, he cited last week's gun firing in Burkina Faso which did not get as much attention and said these (Charlottesville and Barcelona) are not the only places falling victim to terrorism and hatred.

Still, hoping for a better and peaceful future, he said: "The challenge and best response is to speak out, to give hatred no place to fester, and to unite around the values we share. It's often hard for people to find common ground and to work out the best ways to counter the swelling tide of hatred and terrorism. But history has shown we must try".