Meta and Amazon axe diversity programs ahead of Trump inauguration
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Changes at Meta come after company elevated prominent Republican to key position and donated to Trump. Meta Platforms and Amazon are both rolling back diversity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, the latest in a string of major U.S. companies to withdraw from such work ahead of the White House comeback of Donald Trump, who has long railed against “woke” policies and diversity.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI … 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,” Janelle Gale, the company’s vice president of human resources, reportedly wrote.
The change is the latest major rightward shift at Meta, which announced earlier this week it would axe fact-checking on its platforms Facebook and Instagram, long the target of criticism from the right. This week, the company also added Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO and Trump ally Dana White to its board, in a move seen as an attempt to gain favorable treatment from the new administration.
Both Meta and Amazon have reportedly each contributed $1 million donations to the record-breaking Trump inaugural fund. The rightward alignment at Meta is particularly notable, given Trump and Zuckerberg’s complicated relationship. Facebook was a key platform the 2016 Trump campaign used to reach voters, though by 2021 the alliance had soured, as the social media giant indefinitely suspended the president’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram after he praised supporters who carried out the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
