Mark Zuckerberg continues his political shift: the boss of Meta has put an end to programs designed to promote staff diversity in his company. A new decision that aligns the social media giant with Donald Trump. “The legal and policy landscape around diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” explains an internal Meta memo. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is thus reversing an approach adopted for years to create a more inclusive and equitable environment.
“We are at the service of all,” assures the note, specifying that the Californian group will continue to seek candidates of diverse origins while removing specific representation objectives for women and ethnic minorities. According to a report on company diversity analyzed by The Guardian, “Meta managed to double its number of black and Hispanic employees in the United States two years ahead of its goal, going from 3.8% and 5.2% to 4.9% and 6.7% respectively.” Per the new announcement, Meta will no longer adopt specific diverse hiring practices and is completely disbanding a team that was focused on the policy of inclusiveness.
Other major American companies such as McDonald’s, Ford, Amazon and Walmart supermarkets have already reversed their “diversity, equality and inclusion” (DEI) policies, after a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that ended the affirmative action in universities, one of the achievements of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. “The term ‘DEI’ has become controversial, in particular because it is understood by some as […] preferential treatment of certain groups over others,” Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources at Meta, points out in her note.
“Emasculated” society
The shift in business takes place in the context of an “anti-woke” offensive led by the Republicans. In California, Elon Musk and his X platform (formerly Twitter) have liberated conservative, even macho, voices that traditionally had little reach in the Democratic and progressive state. “I think a lot of our society has become […] castrated in some way, or emasculated,” Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan, the host of a popular conservative podcast.
He said he came to this conclusion through practicing mixed martial arts with other men, who see “the real Mark” in competition, and not just the polished leader trained to speak to the media. During this long interview broadcast on Friday, January 10, he again accused the Biden government of “censorship” and regretted having “given too much credit” to the media in the past, rhetoric that is strongly reminiscent of that of Elon Musk.
This week, Mark Zuckerberg also ended Meta fact-checking in the United States, a fact-checking program by independent organizations around the world, born in response to the flood of disinformation on its platforms which worried democratic authorities. Instead, his company will set up a “community notes” system, for users wishing to add context to certain posts, like on X. And, still like on X, the content moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram have been relaxed: more insults and calls for the exclusion of women and LGBT + people from institutions are now allowed.
Very political decision
Mark Zuckerberg has been making advances towards Donald Trump since this summer, and especially since his election, like several of his neighbors and competitors. He had dinner with him in November, donated $1 million to his inauguration ceremony on January 20 and appointed several of his allies to key positions. He was again Friday at Mar-a-Lago, the current residence of the president-elect in Florida, according to the American press. “I think President Trump just wants America to win, and that makes me optimistic,” he told Joe Rogan.
Shortly after the diversity announcement at Meta, Roy Austin, vice president of civil rights at the company, announced his resignation. “The possibility of contributing to the creation of a more just and more equitable world, even in a small way, has been a driving force for me,” said the man who served as deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, in a message on LinkedIn on Friday.
The turnaround on fact-checking, described as a “shame” by Joe Biden on Friday, also caused a wave of concern in many countries, including the UN and the Council of Europe. If Meta generalized its decision to the whole world, it would have dramatic consequences, warned the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which brings together more than 130 organizations.