Read: Meta's memo to employees rolling back DEI programs
AxiosJan 13
Meta and Amazon Roll Back DEI Programs
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Above: In this photo illustration, logo of Amazon is displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of the logo of Meta on Nov. 14, 2023. Image copyright: Yasin Baturhan Ergin/Contributor/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Facts
Tech giants Meta Platforms and Amazon last week became the latest US companies to scale back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, with the first scrapping them altogether while the latter winds down "outdated programs and materials."
On Friday, Axios obtained and published a memo to employees in which Meta detailed changes to its hiring, development, and procurement practices citing changes in the "legal and policy landscape." Meta has confirmed the report is correct.
The Spin
Conservative narrative
The so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are a real problem in corporate America, as they sow division based on race, sex, and ethnicity in the name of inclusion. Companies must be aware that these initiatives do violate the Constitution and federal laws — and that they could face legal consequences if they don't ditch them.
Progressive narrative
Even if some of the largest US companies roll back their diversity programs out of fear of retaliation as Donald Trump returns to the White House and in the wake of the Supreme Court's Students for Fair Admissions decision, this isn't the end of progressive policies. Apple and Costco, for example, are resisting pressure to stand for what they believe in and defend DEI.
