In an internal memo to employees, the company outlined sweeping changes including the elimination of its diverse slate hiring approach and the disbanding of its DEI team.
The move comes amid what Meta describes as "a changing legal and policy landscape" following recent Supreme Court decisions against programs that allowed for increased diversity priorities at US universities.
The memo, first reported by Axios, landed days after Meta abruptly overhauled its content moderation policies, including ending its US fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram, in a major shift that conforms with the priorities of incoming president Donald Trump.
That announcement echoed long-standing complaints made by Trump's Republican Party and X owner Elon Musk about fact-checking and moderating hate speech on social media.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has been moving aggressively to reconcile with Trump since his election in November, including donating $1 million to his inauguration fund and hiring a Republican as his public affairs chief.
On Friday he sat down for an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan in which he bitterly criticized the Biden administration for asking that content be censored on Meta platforms during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Threats from Trump -
Trump has been a harsh critic of Meta and Zuckerberg for years, accusing the company of bias against him and threatening to retaliate against the tech billionaire once back in office.
Republicans are also fiercely against DEI programs in corporate America, many of which were established in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement and the nation's attempt to reckon with longstanding racial disparities.
In the immediate aftermath of Trump's election victory in November, Walmart and a string of prestige brands -- from Ford, John Deere and Lowe's to Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniel's -- also scaled back programs aimed at bolstering minority groups.
In its memo, Meta said its Chief Diversity Officer Maxine Williams will transition to a new role focused on accessibility and engagement, as the company phases out its dedicated DEI initiatives.
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram will also terminate its supplier diversity program, which previously prioritized sourcing from diverse-owned businesses. Instead, Meta says it will focus on supporting small and medium-sized businesses more broadly.
"We serve everyone," the memo stated, emphasizing that the company will continue to source candidates from different backgrounds while eliminating specific representation goals for women and ethnic minorities that were previously in place.
How Meta's fact-checking programme works
Paris (AFP) Jan 10, 2025 -
Internet giant Meta's fact-checking programme aims to counter false information on its social platforms -- Facebook, Instagram and Threads -- with the help of media organisations, including AFP.
Here is a guide to how it works, following Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg's announcement on January 6 that he was halting the programme in the United States.
- Who does fact-checking? -
Meta has since 2016 tasked journalists with assessing false information on its platforms under its "third-party fact-checking" programme -- which currently has 80 media organisations working on it.
In the United States, for example, Meta has 10 media partners for the programme, including AFP, USA Today and specialist fact-check sites Lead Stories and PolitiFact.
The partners are certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), set up in 2015 by the Poynter Institute, a US-based non-profit media training and advocacy group.
To be certified by the IFCN, media organisations must meet its standards of editorial quality, neutrality and independence.
Zuckerberg said he will replace the fact-checks with user-generated "community notes" similar to those used on rival platform X, formerly Twitter, owned by Elon Musk.
- What do fact-checkers do? -
AFP publishes fact-check articles in 26 languages, aimed at readers of posts published in those tongues.
The articles explain why claims are misleading and provide correct information for readers.
To start their articles, AFP's 150 fact-checkers identify claims that are misleading, potentially dangerous and circulating widely on the platforms.
They verify facts, not opinions or beliefs.
They do so by assembling concrete evidence that is transparently sourced and cross-checked.
They explain the steps of their investigation and publish weblinks to their sources where possible.
The media organisation that produces a fact-check article publishes it on their own website.
In the case of AFP fact checks published in English, this site is factcheck.afp.com.
- How does Meta use fact-checks? -
To apply a fact-check to a claim circulating online, the media organisation enters the web address of its article into an interface provided by Meta.
This interface associates the article with the social media post containing the false or misleading information.
This causes the misleading post to become less widely viewed on the social platform and a rating such as "false" or "misleading" to appear alongside the post.
The post is not removed from the platform -- instead, a link to the fact-checking article appears under the post, directing readers to the verified information.
Users who have shared the misleading post receive a notification providing them with a link to the fact-check article.
If the author of the post corrects it, the rating is removed and the restriction on how many users see the post is lifted.
- When are fact-check articles paid for? -
Meta pays the media organisations for publishing the articles that are linked to the misleading posts.
The media organisations may write articles on any subject they choose -- even concerning misinformation that is not circulating on Meta's platforms.
But Meta only pays them for the articles that are linked to specific posts on its platforms.
Meta does not apply ratings or attach fact-checks to posts by political figures.
This does not prevent the media organisations from publishing articles about such posts -- as AFP regularly does. But they do not receive payment from Meta for those articles.
Fact-checkers are not to be confused with Meta's content moderators.
Moderators remove posts that break a platform's rules, for example ones that feature pornography or racist content, or incite terrorism or violence.
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