In a week-long series of developments, Meta gutted its hateful conduct policy, eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for its employees, and even removed trans and non-binary themes on its messenger platform as part of significant changes under CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
On Jan. 7, Meta announced it would be “lifting restrictions on some topics that are part of mainstream discourse” and instead vowed to focus on “illegal and high-severity violations.” Meta insisted that it developed “increasingly complex systems” to moderate content on its platforms but argued that “this approach has gone too far.”
The general public immediately zeroed in on some of the most shocking changes under the new policy, including reducing restrictions on anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. In one such example, Meta’s hateful conduct page states that the company does “allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird.’”
Among other changes, Meta is ditching third-party fact checkers, but contended that experts had their own biases, and, according to Meta, the program “became a tool to censor.” The company also plans to increase political content after moving away from it in 2021.
Days after Meta initially announced changes, Axios reported that the company nixed its DEI programs, and according to the New York Times, Meta is no longer seeking to meet hiring goals on the basis of gender or race. By Friday, Jan. 10, the company had removed trans and non-binary themes from its messenger application, 404 Media reported.
In yet another shocking move at the company, The New York Times reported that Meta’s offices in three states — California, Texas, and New York — removed tampons from men’s restrooms after previously providing them for trans employees.
Joel Kaplan, who has been named the global policy chief for Meta and has a history of working in Republican political circles — including for former President George W. Bush — was the individual who wrote Meta’s press release about the changes. Other recent hires at Meta, according to GLAAD, include Dustin Carmack, who has worked for the Heritage Foundation and for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
GLAAD slammed Meta over the new changes and took further issue with the company’s use of terms like “transgenderism” and “homosexuality” in its policy handbook, as well as allowing anti-trans slurs.
“Meta’s sweeping, hate-driven corporate policy and product changes this week are shocking and dangerous,” GLAAD CEO Kate Ellis said in a written statement. “The company’s litany of dangerous actions is unprecedented. In one week, they have dismantled an entire history of brand-safety best practices, consumer trust, and most importantly, user safety. These changes will harm users and make Meta’s platforms unsafe for everyone. Meta is now an anti-LGBTQ company.”
The New York Times reported that the changes originated in December after Zuckerberg met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago around the Thanksgiving holiday. The changes were driven at least in part by Zuckerberg’s personal views pertaining to his negative feelings about the Biden administration and other pressure to moderate content on his platforms, according to the Times. The moves come just days before Trump returns to the White House for his second term.
Meta is one of many companies that have moved away from DEI programs as of late. Last summer, Brown-Forman, which owns Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniel’s, informed employees that the company would no longer take part in the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates how businesses are treating LGBTQ employees, consumers, and other stakeholders.
Lowe’s also said it would no longer participate in HRC’s corporate equality index or Pride Marches. At Ford, CEO Jim Farley said over the summer that the company would be getting rid of hiring quotas and compensation tied to diversity goals.
