Meta retreats from diversity and inclusion, appeasing Trump

Kurt Wagner, Jeff Green, Bloomberg News on Jan 10, 2025

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Meta Platforms Inc. is disbanding many of its diversity and inclusion efforts, telling employees they will no longer be required to interview candidates from underrepresented backgrounds for open roles, or look to do business with diverse suppliers.

The note to employees, reviewed by Bloomberg News, represents a significant undoing of diversity, equity and inclusion priorities at the company. Maxine Williams, Meta’s chief diversity officer and highest-ranking black woman, will be reassigned to a new role, the memo states.

Axios earlier reported the news, which a Meta spokesperson confirmed.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been working to appeal to President-elect Donald Trump, who he recently met in person at Mar-a-Lago, after years of tension with the politician. Earlier this week, Zuckerberg halted Meta’s work with third-party fact-checking organizations.

Meta on Tuesday also updated its policies around what kind of content could be removed on its sites. These changes included new provisions allowing its users to at times wield insulting language “when discussing transgender rights, immigration or homosexuality” as well as to argue for gender or sexual orientation-based limitations on military, law enforcement and teaching jobs.

The new policy also removed protections against language that describes women as “household objects or property” as well as dehumanizing language focused on Black, transgender and non-binary people.

Meta joins companies including Walmart Inc. and McDonald’s Corp. in a retreat from DEI policies. Amazon.com Inc. on Friday confirmed it is halting some of its diversity programs as part of a review of hundreds of initiatives.

Following the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action in college admissions in 2023, conservative activists have been challenging corporate diversity programs aimed at boosting underrepresented groups, prompting executives to reevaluate the initiatives.

Anti-DEI influencer Robby Starbuck has pushed companies to scrap diversity initiatives, succeeding with a number of businesses from Tractor Supply Co. to Toyota Motor Corp. Trump, a vocal critic of DEI policies, has promised to root out the efforts from the federal government.

As of 2023, Meta’s workforce was 51% Asian and 36% white, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of the data the company reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission each year. Percentages of Black and Hispanic workers, at 3.5% and 6%, respectively, have seen slight declines since 2020. Meta had among the biggest declines in Black managers out of 84 S&P 100 companies in 2023 from a year earlier.

“The decisions the company is making now, from how they will deal with mis- and disinformation, to their hiring practices, make it clear what type of world they want for us and our children,” said Rashad Robinson, former head of civil rights group Color of Change, which previously clashed with Meta over racial hatred on its platforms.

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—With assistance from Riley Griffin.