No more fact-checking or moderation
In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg took a clear stance against Trump’s politics. The Capitol riot led the tech mogul to ban Donald Trump from Facebook and Instagram. However, it seems Zuckerberg has had a change of heart. After denouncing the plague of misinformation and online hate, he reportedly decided to rethink his approach to how information circulates on his platforms. His first major change is to “get rid of fact-checking.” This process of verifying facts and statements “resembles censorship,” and fact-checkers were “too politically biased.” The fact-checking system is now replaced by community ratings, similar to the platform X (formerly Twitter). This announcement has sparked concern within the company itself.
Meta’s Vice President for Civil Rights, Roy Austin, resigned in response to this decision. “Equity and social justice” are no longer the company’s guiding principles. In fact, Zuckerberg intends to make several changes within his companies. Facebook and Instagram’s moderation rules have now been relaxed in the United States. In short, it is now possible to insult someone as “mentally ill” because of their religious beliefs or sexual orientation without facing consequences. This decision has led to confusion, especially since, just four years ago, Zuckerberg launched several measures to combat online hate. Furthermore, diversity and inclusion policies are no longer part of the company’s values. Meta has now ended its inclusion programs. After fact-checking and moderation, positive discrimination is also being abandoned.
Dangerous changes for diversity
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is eliminating all of its programs for the inclusion of ethnic minorities and female candidates. The company’s Vice President of Human Resources, Janelle Gale, justifies this choice by saying, “The legal and political landscape around diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts is changing.” Employees identifying as LGBTQ+ are “particularly unhappy and unsupported.” Furthermore, while the company had previously distributed tampons to support transgender employees, this initiative has already been withdrawn. Some employees have even taken leave and are considering leaving the company.
At the same time, Meta is also jeopardizing the position of women within the company. The company now says it will no longer set specific quotas for female recruitment. However, the company claims it will continue recruiting “candidates from diverse backgrounds.” This decision comes at a time when “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies are being widely challenged in the U.S. The Supreme Court has ended affirmative action, and many American companies, including Meta, have already abolished their inclusion programs.
More “masculine energy”
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the professional and corporate world has been “culturally emasculated.” He even suggests that society as a whole has been “emasculated.” In an interview with the Republican podcaster Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg explained that he wanted to inject more “masculine energy” into the business world. The American tech mogul claims to have rediscovered masculine energy through practicing martial arts. It’s worth noting that, globally, the tech industry is overwhelmingly male-dominated, with women representing only 26.7% of the industry, and that number drops to 16% when it comes to leadership roles.
At 40, Zuckerberg seems to be following in the footsteps of his competitor, Elon Musk. When Musk acquired X (formerly Twitter), his first move was to reinstate Donald Trump’s account, which had been banned. Zuckerberg had previously banned Trump from both Facebook and Instagram. Recently, the former president’s access was restored. Since then, Mark Zuckerberg has accused the Biden administration of censorship, calling the reversal on fact-checking a “shame.” Now, the CEO of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp is showing unwavering support for Donald Trump. In an effort to get closer to the incoming president, Zuckerberg even appointed Dana White, a Trump ally and advocate for “unfiltered free speech,” to Meta’s board of directors. Zuckerberg also participated in Trump’s inauguration ceremony, making a $1 million donation.