Jason Miller, senior adviser on the Trump-Vance transition, discussed pressure to impeach Trump's New York criminal case, the Hunter Biden pardon and the potential role of some prominent public figures in Trump's policies.
First on Fox: Meta's Global policy chief Joel Kaplan told Fox News Digital that the move to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs will ensure the company is “building teams with the most talented people” rather than making hiring decisions based on protected characteristics.
meta, On Friday, announced that it has ended its major DEI programs, effective immediately
Meta Corporate concludes DE programs
Janelle Gale, Meta's vice president of human resources, sent a memo, first obtained by Axios, to employees explaining that “the legal and policy landscape around diversity, equity and inclusion is changing.”
Kaplan, head of global policy at Mater, discussed the decision with Fox News Digital on Friday afternoon.
The Meta logo is seen at the Vivatech show on June 14, 2023, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus/AP Newsroom)
“It's ultimately about doing what's best for our company and making sure we're serving everyone and teaming up with the most talented people,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “This means valuing people as individuals, and sourcing people from a range of candidate pools, but never making hiring decisions based on protected characteristics such as race or gender.”
Kaplan points to a recent Supreme Court decision that “signals a shift in how courts will approach DEI.”
“It reaffirms longstanding principles that discrimination based on inherent characteristics should not be tolerated or promoted,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital.
US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on Friday, January 5, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
He added: “It is clear that there has been a shift in this regard from a policy and legal perspective, and we hope that this will continue and we want to ensure that our programs are in a long-term and sustainable position.”
Several other prominent companies have rolled back DEI policies in recent months
Trump Says Meta Has 'Come a Long Way' After Zuckerberg Ends Fact-Checking on Platform
McDonald's announced Monday that it is ending some of its DEI policies, saying that while it remains committed to inclusion, it has dropped its “aspirational representation goals” as well as ending its DEI pledge for suppliers. The company also renamed its diversity team to the global inclusion team and completed an external survey on the issue.
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The fast food giant's decision follows similar changes made by Walmart, Ford Motor Co., John Deere, Lowe's and Toyota in 2024.
Babylon B CEO Seth Dillon joins 'The Bottom Line' with his reaction to Meta's decision to end the tech giant's fact-checking program.
In mid-December, a federal appeals court Rejection of Nasdaq's diversification rules which was previously approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Meta's move to end its DEI programs comes days after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would end its fact-checking programs across its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
Zuckerberg said his company would “focus on getting back to our roots and reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platform.”
Meta plans to replace fact-checking with a “community notes” model similar to the one used in X.
Meta's third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and used to “manage content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely “due to political pressure,” executives said, but admitted the system had gone “too far.” ”
President-elect Donald Trump responded to Meta Moved to end its fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram and its other platforms, Fox News told Digital in an exclusive interview that the company is “coming a long way”
Trump said he thought Matt's “presentation was great.”
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Regarding the timing of changes to Matter's fact-checking programs, Kaplan told Fox News Digital that the company “now has a real opportunity.”
“We have a new administration coming in that is far from pushing companies to censor [is more] is a huge supporter of free expression,” Kaplan said. “It brings us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.”
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, in which he acknowledged that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, particularly regarding topics like COVID-19 content and even satire and humor.
“The point is, as American companies, when other governments around the world that don't have our heritage or our First Amendment, when they see that the United States government is pressuring US companies to take down content, it's open season for them. Governments to push more. [on their companies],” Kaplan explained. “We think this is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and work for free speech at home.”
Kaplan also said Metta sees “partnership opportunities” with the Trump administration, not just on free speech but “on promoting American business and America's technological edge.”
“These are very important issues for Meta and our sector,” Kaplan said. “And we're excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals.”