Mark Zuckerberg's social media group Meta has been attempting to mend ties with a leader who has railed against its political content policies and threatened its CEO with order of jail life.
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| US president elect Donald Trump, Meta, Amazon. Image/ Illustration: ChicHue |
Washington, USA --- January 11, 2025:
As conservative opposition to such initiatives grows louder, Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Amazon.com are putting aside diversity programs ahead of Republican Donald Trump's retake to the U.S. presidency.
US media said that some of America's biggest businesses have been scaling back their diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more rightful policies in the wake of protests against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.
The diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in Meta is being closed, including those for hiring, training and picking suppliers, it said in an internal memo to employees on Friday - the latest in a series of actions cheered by conservatives.
Meta has scrapped its U.S. fact-checking initiative, elevated prominent Republican Joel Kaplan to be its chief global affairs officer and elected Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and close friend of Trump, to its board. Meta did this in less than 15 days.
In a departure from its past practice, Meta in December announced a $1 million contribution to Trump's inaugural fund, joining big companies from Wall Street to Silicon Valley that have pledged donations.
Amazon.com is also "loosing ropes outdated programs and materials" related to representation and inclusion, aiming to complete the process by the end of 2024, it said in a December memo to employees seen by journalists on Friday.
Conservative citizens have denounced DEI programs and threatened to sue companies over them, emboldened by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that struck down affirmative action in university admissions decisions.
Just this week, Elon Musk and other Trump allies blamed DEI programs for hindering the response to raging wildfires in Los Angeles, without proof.
"The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing," Janelle Gale, Vice President of Human Resources at Meta, said in the memo, which was seen by Reuters and originally reported by Axios.
Gale cited recent Supreme Court decisions "signaling a shift" in how U.S. courts will approach DEI programs going forward.
A U.S. appeals court in December ruled that Nasdaq could not impose rules designed to increase diversity in corporate America by requiring companies listed on the exchange to have women and minority directors on their boards or explain why they do not.
"The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others," Gale wrote.
Meta will no longer have a dedicated team focused on DEI. Chief Diversity Officer Maxine Williams will be taking on a new role "focused on accessibility and engagement", per the memo.