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FIRST ON FOX: Meta’s head of global policy, Joel Kaplan, told Fox News Digital that the decision to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs will ensure the company “builds teams with the right people.” most talented” instead of making hiring decisions based on protected characteristics.
Meta, On Friday, announced the end of its major DEI programs, effective immediately.
META ENDS CORPORATE DEI PROGRAMS
Meta’s vice president of human resources, Janelle Gale, sent a memo, first obtained by Axios, to employees explaining that “the legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion is changing to change.”
Kaplan, Meta’s head of global policy, discussed the decision with Fox News Digital on Friday afternoon.
The Meta logo is seen at the Vivatech show in Paris, France on June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus / AP Press Room)
“It’s ultimately about doing what’s best for our company and ensuring that we serve everyone and build teams of the most talented people,” Kaplan told Fox NewsDigital. “This means evaluating people as individuals and seeking people from a wide range of candidates, but never making hiring decisions based on protected characteristics like race or gender.”
Kaplan pointed to recent Supreme Court decisions “signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI.”
“This reaffirms long-standing principles that discrimination should not be tolerated or encouraged based on inherent characteristics,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital.
The United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC on Friday, January 5, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
He added: “It’s clear that there is a shift on this issue from a policy and legal perspective, and we anticipate that will happen even more in the future, and we want to ensure that our programs are in a sustainable and long-term position.”
Several other high-profile companies have rolled back their DEI policies in recent months.
TRUMP SAYS META HAS “COMED A LONG WAY” AFTER ZUCKERBERG COMPLETES FACT CHECK ON PLATFORMS
McDonald’s announced Monday that it is ending some of its DEI policies, saying that while it is committed to inclusion, it has abandoned its “ambitious representation goals” and ended its DEI commitment towards suppliers. The company also changed the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion team and ended external investigations on the subject.
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The fast-food giant’s move follows similar changes in 2024 by Walmart, Ford Motor Co., John Deere, Lowe’s and Toyota.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon joins “The Bottom Line” to respond to Meta’s decision to end the tech giant’s fact-checking program.
In mid-December, a federal appeals court rejected Nasdaq diversity rules previously approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Meta’s decision to end its DEI programs comes just days after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would end its fact-checking programs on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
Zuckerberg said his company “will return to our roots and focus on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring free speech on our platforms.”
Meta plans to replace fact-checking with a “Community Notes” model similar to that used on X.
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was established after the 2016 election and was used to “manage content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to “political pressure,” the company said. leaders, but admitted that the system had “gone too far”. far.”
President-elect Donald Trump reacted at Meta decided to end its fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram and its other platforms, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that the company “came a long way.”
Trump said he thought Meta’s “presentation was excellent.”
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As for the timeline for changes to Meta’s fact-checking programs, Kaplan told Fox News Digital that the company has “a real opportunity now.”
“We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring businesses to censor and [is more] a big supporter of free speech,” Kaplan said. “It brings us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.”
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, in which he admitted to feeling pressure from the Biden administration, particularly regarding COVID-19 content, and even topics like satire and humor.
“The fact is, as American businesses, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the United States government putting pressure on American businesses to If they remove content, the hunt is on for these companies. Governments must put more pressure on them. [on their companies]Kaplan explained. “We think this is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and work on free speech in our country.”
Kaplan also said Meta saw “opportunities for partnership” with the Trump administration, not only on free speech issues, but also in “promoting American business and America’s technological edge.” .
“These are questions of great importance to Meta and our industry,” Kaplan said. “And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance these goals.”
