By AFP
January 10, 2025
Mark Zuckerberg recently went on influencer Joe Rogan's podcast, where he criticized the Biden administration for asking that content be censored on Meta platforms during the coronavirus pandemic - Copyright AFP Drew ANGERER
Social media giant Meta announced Friday it is dismantling its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across the company, marking another major shift in strategy as it aligns with politically conservative priorities.
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.
‘Real-world harm’ if Meta ends fact-checks, global network warns
By AFP
January 10, 2025
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made his surprise announcement this week to slash content moderation policies in the United States - Copyright AFP Drew ANGERER
There will be “real-world harm” if Meta expands its decision to scrap fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, a global network warned Thursday while disputing Mark Zuckerberg’s claim such moderation amounts to censorship.
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s surprise announcement this week to slash content moderation policies in the United States has sparked alarm in countries such as Australia and Brazil.
The tech tycoon said fact-checkers were “too politically biased” and the program had led to “too much censorship”.
But the International Fact-Checking Network, which includes AFP among its dozens of member organizations globally, said the censorship claim was “false”.
“We want to set the record straight, both for today’s context and for the historical record,” said the network.
Facebook pays to use fact checks from around 80 organisations globally on the platform, as well as on WhatsApp and Instagram.
There could be devastating consequences if Meta broadens its policy shift beyond US borders, to programs covering more than 100 countries, the International Fact-Checking Network warned.
“Some of these countries are highly vulnerable to misinformation that spurs political instability, election interference, mob violence and even genocide,” the network said.
“If Meta decides to stop the program worldwide, it is almost certain to result in real-world harm in many places,” it added.
AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking scheme.
In that program, content rated “false” is downgraded in news feeds so fewer people will see it and if someone tries to share that post, they are presented with an article explaining why it is misleading.
– Zuckerberg courts Trump –
Meta’s policy overhaul came less than two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office and it aligns with the Republican Party’s stance.
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.
Zuckerberg has been making efforts to reconcile with Trump since his election in November, meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and donating one million dollars to his inauguration fund.
The Meta chief also named Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) head Dana White, a close ally of Trump, to the company board.
Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network, said Tuesday the decision came after “extreme political pressure.”
The move “will hurt social media users who are looking for accurate, reliable information to make decisions about their everyday lives and interactions with friends and family.”
Australia said Meta’s decision was “a very damaging development”, while Brazil warned it was “bad for democracy”.
Meta’s move into fact-checking came in the wake of Trump’s shock election in 2016, which critics said was enabled by rampant disinformation on Facebook and interference by foreign actors, including Russia, on the platform.
Brazil gives Meta 72 hours to explain new fact-checking policies
By AFP
January 10, 2025
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stunned many with his announcement that he was pulling the plug on fact-checking at Facebook and Instagram in the United States, leaving other countries such as Brazil wondering what will change for them - Copyright AFP/File Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV
Brazil on Friday gave social media giant Meta 72 hours to explain its fact-checking policy for the country, and how it plans to protect “fundamental rights” on its platforms.
Attorney General Jorge Messias told journalists his office could take “legal and judicial” measures against Meta if it does not respond in time to an extrajudicial notice filed Friday.
Citing Meta’s “lack of transparency,” Messias said the company “will have 72 hours to inform the Brazilian government of its actual policy for Brazil.”
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stunned many with his announcement Tuesday that he was pulling the plug on fact-checking at Facebook and Instagram in the United States, citing concerns about political bias and censorship.
The move has raised concerns in multiple countries, including Brazil, that are vulnerable to misinformation.
The Brazilian presidency said the changes at Meta were a key topic of discussion in a phone call Friday between Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
The leaders “agreed that freedom of expression does not mean freedom to spread lies, prejudices and insults.”
Also prompting concern were Meta’s new, looser restrictions on speech concerning topics such as gender and sexual identity, announced Thursday.
According to the government’s extrajudicial notice, the new guidelines allow users to associate sexual identity with “a mental illness or abnormality” and allows “the defense of professional limitations based on gender.”
“We will not allow, under any circumstances, these networks to transform the environment into a digital massacre or barbarity,” said Messias, highlighting Brazil’s strict laws protecting children and vulnerable populations.
– ‘Respect Brazilian legislation’ –
The extrajudicial notice asks for clarity on how social media algorithms will be designed “in order to unwaveringly promote and protect fundamental rights.”
Brazil also wants to know what measures will be adopted to prevent gender-based violence, racism, homophobia, transphobia, suicide, hate speech and other fundamental rights issues.
The country also wants details on how complaints can be filed, and how contradictions and disinformation in the new user-generated “community notes” system will be dealt with.
“The government will not stand idly by, as you can see,” said Messias.
The decision to hand the deadline to Meta came after a government meeting overseen by Lula on the implications of the changes for Brazil.
“All companies operating in the country must respect Brazilian legislation and jurisdiction,” Lula wrote on X after the meeting.
On Wednesday, Brazil’s public prosecutor’s office sent a letter to local Meta representatives giving the company 30 days to clarify whether it intends to implement the fact-check changes in the country.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has taken a strong stance on regulating social media platforms.
Last year, judge Alexandre de Moraes blocked Elon Musk’s X platform for 40 days for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation.
AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking program, including in the United States and the European Union.
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