Toba Owojaiye reportingÂ
Abuja, Nigeria
In a series of sweeping changes, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has dismantled several diversity initiatives, relaxed its hate speech policies, and removed LGBTQ+ themes from its Messenger app.
Truth Live News gathered that the pivotal decisions follow a meeting between CEO Mark Zuckerberg and President-elect Donald Trump, after which Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Janelle Gale, Meta’s Vice President of Human Resources, announced the termination of the “Diverse Slate Approach,” which encouraged hiring managers to consider candidates from underrepresented backgrounds. Additionally, the company has disbanded its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team, citing changes in the U.S. legal and policy landscape. Gale noted that the term “DEI” has become contentious, suggesting preferential treatment of certain groups.
Meta has revised its content moderation guidelines, now permitting certain derogatory statements targeting transgender individuals, immigrants, and women. Internal training materials reveal examples of newly acceptable posts, including statements denying the existence of transgender people and misgendering them.
The company has also deleted “trans” and “nonbinary” themes from its Messenger app, which allowed users to customize chat appearances with designs representing LGBTQ+ identities. Other themes, such as those celebrating “Basketball” and “Minecraft,” remain available.
These policy shifts have elicited mixed reactions within Meta. Some employees express concern that the rollback of DEI programs undermines the company’s commitment to inclusivity, while others support the move towards neutrality. Externally, critics argue that relaxing hate speech rules could lead to an increase in harmful content, potentially affecting Meta’s relationships with advertisers concerned about brand safety.
These developments mark a significant shift in Meta’s corporate policies, aligning with the incoming administration’s stance and raising questions about the future of diversity and inclusion efforts within the tech industry.