After scrapping its fact-checking program, social media powerhouse Meta is axing its DEI initiatives as well with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs coming to an end effective immediately. This will impact the hiring, training, and even supplier selection processes. This means Meta is shifting its focus away from hiring a diverse workforce and sourcing supplies from diverse-owned businesses. The company is also terminating the DEI department, according to a report by Axios, citing a leaked internal memo.
With its recent moves, Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta clearly seems in a rush to align with the upcoming regime in the US. And the company doesn’t hesitate to openly showcase this. As per the report, Meta’s vice president of human resources, Janelle Gale, posted a memo for employees on the company’s internal communications tool, Workplace, on Friday (10 January).
In this memo, the company directly stated that the legal and policy landscape regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing. The Menlo Park, California-headquartered company highlights that the U.S. Supreme Court has recently made rulings indicating a change in how the courts will handle issues related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Meta further expresses concerns that these recent court decisions may affect how DEI initiatives are interpreted or implemented in the future.
Additionally, Meta now believes the term ‘DEI’ has become controversial because some people view it as a practice that gives preferential treatment to certain groups, potentially at the expense of others. And this growing perception has led to increased debate over the existence of DEI policies.
Meta’s recent move is part of a broader trend where big tech companies and their executives in the U.S. are making public decisions or statements that reflect support for or alignment with the views of President-elect Trump. The popularity and acceptability of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement are also contributing to the same. However, Meta is not alone in this trend, as Walmart, McDonald’s, Microsoft, and Zoom have already joined in. Some recent reports suggest that Amazon is also ending certain diversity and inclusion programs.
Before curbing its DEI initiatives, Meta replaced its President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, with Joel Kaplan last week. Notably, Joel is a prominent Republican. While Meta is showing significant changes in policy with Donald Trump returning to the White House, the company is also attracting a lot of criticism for its latest moves. Critics argue that Meta’s new policy (especially terminating the third-party fact-checking system) would increase hate speech and misinformation across all its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Interestingly, this fresh development comes just one day after a group of authors accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of approving the use of pirated content to train Meta’s AI model – Llama – in an amended lawsuit.
