Meta ends DEI programs in latest policy reversal

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta on Friday announced the end of its corporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, marking a dramatic reversal as such programs come under intense scrutiny from the public.

"The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing," wrote Vice President of Human Resources Janelle Gale in a memo obtained by Axios.

Gale highlighted a recently Supreme Court ruling barring affirmative action in college admissions and suggested it was indicative of how courts would handle DEI programs in the future. She further noted the politicized nature of such initiatives .

"We believe there are other ways to build an industry-leading workforce and leverage teams made up of world-class people from all types of backgrounds," she wrote.

The move comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg terminated Facebook's partnerships with fact-checking organizations and announced plans to replace them with a user-driven system similar to X's community notes. Zuckerberg met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago after his election win and Meta has donated to his inauguration fund.