Meta is reportedly killing its DEI programs — just days after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the tech giant would no longer restrict speech on its popular social media platforms.
The parent of Facebook, Instagram and Threads said it will no longer consider controversial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies before hiring, training and selecting suppliers, Axios reported Friday.
According to a memo sent by Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources, the company said it was leaving DEI because “the legal and political landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing.”
A Meta spokesperson contacted by The Post confirmed the memo, which was first obtained by Axios.
Meta’s latest decision appears to further Zuckerberg’s efforts to endear Meta to the incoming Trump administration.
The billionaire announced Tuesday that the tech giant will end its efforts to fact-check and police speech on Meta’s popular social media platforms.
In the memo sent by Gale, she noted that DEI “has been accused, in part, because it is understood by some to be a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.”
Instead, Meta will create programs “that focus on how to implement fair and sustainable practices that mitigate bias for everyone, regardless of your background,” Gale wrote.
The memo was posted on Workplace, the company’s internal message board that employees have used in recent days to protest Zuckerberg’s decision to drop partnerships with third-party fact-checkers and the appointment of the pro-Trump entrepreneur. MMA Dana White on board. of directors.
The new policy means Meta will dismantle its DEI-dedicated team. Maxine Williams, the firm’s chief diversity officer, will be reassigned to a new role within the company, according to Axios.
Meta will no longer aim to achieve “representational goals” since they “may create the impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender,” Gale wrote.
“Although this has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it,” she said.
DEI, which was originally intended to diversify the workforce, has been criticized as a means of enforcing reverse discrimination that disadvantages white applicants and de-emphasizes merit.
Fortune 500 companies rushed to establish DEI in the wake of Black Lives Matter-led demonstrations that were affected by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020.
Since then, however, public pressure campaigns by right-leaning influencers like Robby Starbuck have succeeded in forcing firms to either give up or eliminate the programs.
Among the brands that have pulled out of DEI in recent months are Walmart, Ford Motor Company, Molson Coors, the parent company of Jack Daniel Brown-Forman, Boeing and Harley Davidson.
Earlier this week, McDonald’s said it was ending some of its DEI practices — citing a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions.
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