Mark Zuckerberg takes off his mask and abandons diversity

Mark Zuckerberg is finally ready to be his true self. Surprise: it’s bad.

new Report from the New York Times He details how Zack enlisted a small team of executives to help him reshape Meta platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads the way he saw fit. This has been included so far End fact checking, Undo the rules of moderation That protects marginalized people, and intensifies the algorithm Promote more political content. Now, on a note to staff Acquired by Axiosyou can add diversity, equity, and inclusion to the list of principles to which Zuckerberg’s business is committed.

The company announced that it would eliminate its DEI team, stop attempts to work with minority-owned supplier companies, and end representation goals, among other policies. The changes will take effect immediately.

This shift to the right comes after Zuckerberg’s trip to Mar-a-Lago over Thanksgiving, where he spent time with President-elect Donald Trump. But, according to the Times, this has been simmering within Meta’s CEO for some time. He reportedly felt forced to embrace “progressive” causes — you know, those far-left beliefs like “equal opportunity is good” and “you shouldn’t just lie about things” — by his employees and outside forces. Behind the scenes, the Times says he was talking to him Deranged lunatic Marc Andreessen And others about how he wants to take a “freedom of expression” approach to running his companies.

Interestingly, Zuckerberg’s techno-libertarian version of “freedom of speech” sounds a lot like “oppression of marginalized people” in practice. Zuck, along with his small circle of like-minded ghouls, Rewriting company content moderation policies In a way that prohibits saying “white people suffer from mental illness” but allows saying “gay people suffer from mental illness,” for example. The company too Transgender and non-binary topic options were withdrawn From its Messenger chat app.

And then there is the decision to end DEI programs. Meta claimed that the reason for making this call is because “the legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equality, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing.” In the memo obtained by Axios, Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, cited recent Supreme Court decisions that “signal a shift in how courts approach DEI” — an apparent reference to the SCOTUS decision on – Abolition of affirmative action programs In college admissions offices, as well as upcoming The issue of “reverse discrimination”. The court will hear that this could set a precedent for attacking DEI initiatives.

But more than that, the decision appears to be an extension of Zuckerberg’s worldview. His buddies in the venture capital world have spent years in Silicon Valley Playing with DEI programsthey fantasize about being kings of merit and scoff at the idea that someone from a less fortunate background would face any discrimination if they were. truly As capable as their counterparts. Of course, the reality is that Meritocracy is a myth. In reality, I found studies The belief that achievements were the result of merit leads to less empathy and more discriminatory behavior.

This is a clear departure from the way the company has presented itself in the past few years. After all, it’s just the company Successfully defended one of her DEI efforts In court last summer. In 2023, dead publicly male“Our commitment to DEI remains at the core of who we are as a company.” And just two years ago, Meta published a diversity report that highlighted how it could attract more talent from marginalized communities by hiring more remote workers. (The company has since released Return to office order Which It disproportionately affected these same workers.)

Of all the decisions Zuckerberg has made across his company in the past few weeks, it’s clear that there’s one type of diversity he’s really down to: diversity of thought he doesn’t agree with.