Meta Scales Back DEI Initiatives Amid Changing Legal Landscape
In a significant shift, Meta has decided to eliminate its major Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which include efforts towards hiring a diverse workforce, providing training, and sourcing supplies from companies owned by diverse individuals. The DEI department itself is set to be dissolved. A memo leaked to Axios reveals that this decision comes as a response to the evolving legal and policy environment concerning DEI efforts in the United States.
Meta isn’t navigating this change alone. Major tech companies like Microsoft and Zoom have also scaled back their DEI programs. This trend is partly driven by lawsuits targeting initiatives that provided specific support for Black and Latino communities.
“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing.”
{Meta Memo
Furthermore, Meta announced a reduction in its fact-checking operations on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. This has sparked dissatisfaction among users, as evidenced by a spike in Google searches related to deleting Meta accounts following Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement.
