Meta will end DEI programs, citing changing 'legal and policy landscape'
Meta, the owner and operator of Facebook and Instagram, is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programs effective immediately. (Image from Shutterstock)
Meta, the owner and operator of Facebook and Instagram, is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programs effective immediately.
Janelle Gale, the company’s vice president of human resources, noted in a memo sent to all employees that “the legal and policy landscape” around diversity, equity and inclusion has changed.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI,” Gale wrote in the memo, which was obtained and first reported by Axios on Friday. “It reaffirms long-standing principles that discrimination should not be tolerated or promoted on the basis of inherent characteristics.”
In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. While the ruling applied to higher education, several companies, including Boeing, Walmart and McDonald’s, since have made changes to their DEI programs.
“The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” Gale also said in Meta’s memo.
The Washington Post, CNN, CNBC and Law.com have additional coverage.
Among its announced changes, Meta will no longer have a team focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. According to the company’s memo, Maxine Williams, its chief diversity officer, will move to a new role focused on accessibility and engagement.
The memo said Meta will end its “diverse slate approach,” which ensured that diverse candidates were considered for every position, ensured representation goals for women and minorities, and ensured equity and inclusion training programs. It also will stop its efforts to source suppliers from diverse-owned businesses.
“At Meta, we have a principle of serving everyone,” Gale wrote in the memo. “This can be achieved through cognitively diverse teams, with differences in knowledge, skills, political views, backgrounds, perspectives and experiences.”
She added: “On top of that, we’ve always believed that no one should be given—or deprived of—opportunities because of protected characteristics, and that has not changed.”
Meta also recently announced that it would end its third-party fact-checking programs in the United States and change its hateful conduct policies, which critics say more closely aligns with the views of the incoming Trump administration, CNN reports.
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