"To please Trump"...Meta, Amazon Dismantle Diversity Policies

Meta, the world's largest social media platform, and Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce platform, have dropped policies that encourage diversity.

Analysts say the move is conscious of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office soon.

In particular, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's move to ingratiate himself with Trump is notable.

The decision is in response to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's political and cultural views and is an extension of the pro-Trump move that U.S. companies are scrambling to make.

Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said in an internal memo to employees that it was ending the company's "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policy, which had been applied to hiring, training and selecting suppliers, according to U.S. internet media Axios and Reuters.

"The legal and policy environment around DEI is changing in the United States," Meta said, explaining that while it will continue to find employees from diverse backgrounds, it will abolish the existing method of selecting from candidates tailored to the diversity stance.

In a memo to employees last month, Amazon also mentioned the end of 2024 as the target time for completion, saying it is scaling back outdated programs related to securing diversity.

U.S. companies have introduced a series of DEI policies after the proliferation of anti-racism movements after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed in a hardline police crackdown in 2020.

However, the U.S. conservatives, who protested that the DEI policy was rather discriminatory, put intense pressure on companies to abolish DEI after the Supreme Court ruled last year that the minority preferential admission policy was unconstitutional.

On top of that, as Trump, who opposes the DEI policy, succeeded in regaining power, McDonald's and Walmart abolished the DEI policy one after another.

Meta's abolition of diversity policy is more noteworthy in that it came three days after it abolished the "third party fact check" that identifies fake news and identifies facts on its social media (SNS) such as Facebook.

The abolition of fact-checking was also interpreted as a measure in response to Trump's demand that "the self-censorship function of content should be removed from SNS."

In addition, CEO Zuckerberg is continuing his move to win the favor of Trump, who has been in conflict for years.

It has hired UFC CEO Dana White, who is considered Trump's closest aide, as a board member and promoted prominent Republican Joel Kaplan to head global policy.

In an interview with renowned podcast host Joe Rogan, which was released the day before, Zuckerberg also claimed that "companies need more masculine energy."

"I think masculine energy is good, and obviously that's enough for society, but I think corporate culture is really trying to get away from that," he said.

"I think it (male and feminine energy) is all good, but I think corporate culture is flowing somewhat neutral," he said, stressing that he likes a culture that values aggression more highly.

He also accused the Joe Biden administration of yelling and cursing at Meta employees during the COVID-19 pandemic while discussing how to manage COVID-19-related content.

Zuckerberg said he was "optimistic" about Trump's return to the White House and stressed that "I think he just wants the United States to win."

Internet media Semafort reported citing sources that Zuckerberg met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

Zuckerberg met with Trump in Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 27 last year after the U.S. presidential election and congratulated him on his victory, saying, "I have a grateful heart."