Eight ways Mark Zuckerberg changed Meta ahead of Trump’s inauguration

This past week, Mark Zuckerberg began a rapid reversal of policies – from DEI initiatives to Facebook to the political content recommended to the Threads and Instagram — and ended the week with a nearly three-hour interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. It reads like what some users call it a transparent attempt at bootlicking As preparation for a new political reality in the United States, it does not seem too afraid of that assumption: Just last month, Zuckerberg donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and on Rogan’s podcastreleased Friday, said he is “optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump because he “just wants America to win.”

It’s been such a busy week for Meta that even the staunchest of Zuckerberg news junkies might have missed some of his transformative decisions. Here’s a rundown of all the changes a man with a net worth of more than $200 billion has made to one of the most powerful and influential tech companies in the world just a week before Trump takes office.

The fact checkers are out

Zuckerberg is following in the footsteps of MAGA supporters X‘s Elon Musk to get rid of fact checkers in favor of community notes. He announced on Tuesday that “it’s time to return to our roots around free speech” to “simplify our policies and focus on reducing mistakes.” The decision was faced with an incredible – although it was expected – civil reaction and human rights organizations. As Press Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights Nora Benavidez said in a press release, “Content moderation has never been a tool to repress freedom of speech; it is a principle that the platforms themselves developed to promote dialogue and protect the truth for users.

He defended his decision on Rogan’s podcast saying he employed fact-checkers who “were too biased” and claimed his company’s fact-checking process was “something out of whack.” 1984. ” It’s a remarkable comparison to a book written by a democratic socialist and member of the anti-Stalinist left. It makes you think – has Zuckerberg read the book?

Hate speech is in

Meta has decided to lift bans against some hate speech on its platforms. Within these new guidelinesThe Meta platforms allow users to post content that they call the property of women, refer to specific ethnic groups as “filth”, and claim that gay and trans people are “mentally ill”. despite the APA declaring 52 years ago that homosexuality is not a mental illness, for example. Users can compare protected characteristics including “race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and serious illness” to inanimate objects, property and diseases. The platform will also not act against posts that support discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.

“We allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when they are based on gender or sexual orientation, given the political and religious discourse on transgenderism and homosexuality and the common non-serious use of words such as” strange,” wrote Meta. A a spokesperson told CNN in a statement that Meta also prohibits some insults and attacks and enforces its remaining bullying, harassment and violence policies.

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DEI initiatives are out

For some reason, Zuckerberg decided to end his diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to an internal memo obtained by Axios on Friday. Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, wrote the memo and said Meta will bring together “cognitively diverse teams, with differences in knowledge, skills, political views, backgrounds, perspectives and experiences,” but no longer offer equity and inclusion. . formation As the New York Times reportedthe company “eliminated its chief diversity officer role, ended its diversity hiring goals that called for hiring a certain number of women and minorities, and said it would no longer prioritize minority-owned businesses at the ’employment of salesmen’.

“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing. The United States Supreme Court has recently made decisions that signal a shift in the way courts are approaching to GODS”. the memo reads, according to Axios. “It reaffirms longstanding principles that discrimination should not be tolerated or promoted on the basis of inherent characteristics. The term ‘DEI’ has also been criticized, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups to others.”

The tampons are out

According to the New York Timesfacility managers were ordered to remove tampons from men’s bathrooms at Meta offices in California, Texas and New York. Meta previously provided this for non-binary and transgender employees who use the men’s room. As Katie Notopoulos, a tech reporter for Business Insider, he wrote about it Blueskyit’s a clear attempt at virtue signaling.

“Probably only used by a handful of employees, but work for the facilities team to be removed,” he wrote. “Like, it took physical work and coordination in 3 offices to do this.”

Trans and non-binary Messenger topics are out

Speaking of virtue signaling, Meta also removed trans and non-binary themes on its Messenger app this week, 404 Media said before. These themes are a fun way to decorate your chats – a “love” makes them pink, for example. Trans and non-binary topics turned the colors of the chats to match the trans or non-binary pride flags. It’s hard to think of a reason these could be turned off other than an attempt to match their other new anti-LGBTQ policies.

Political discourse on Instagram and Threads is in

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram and Threads, announced on Thursday that the platforms will be recommending political content to users once again. You can adjust your political content control to less, standard and more, but the default will be standard. While some users are happy to have the policy back on the platform, they are concerned about the timing with the removal of the fact checkers. This is a gross diversion from it approach of March 2024 to distance themselves from the political content.

“Our intention is to present political advice in a responsible and personalized way, which means more for people who want this content and less for those who don’t.” Mosseri posted on the Threads about the decision. “Our plan is to continue to listen to feedback, learn and iterate over the next few months.”

Dana White is in

On Monday, Meta announces that Dana Whitethe well-known Trump ally and chairman and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, will join its board of directors – another move that the The Washington Post noted “It could be seen as Zuckerberg’s latest maneuver to improve ties with Trump.” White was joined alongside John Elkann, the billionaire CEO of investment firm Exor and executive chairman of Ferrari and Stellantis, and Charlie Songhurst, a technology investor. The announcement comes a week after Nick Clegg, the former leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrats, announced that he will be leaving his post as Meta’s head of policy.