Whether moving teams to Texas will be more than symbolic is unclear. Common sense suggests that if someone in California exhibits a particular political preference, moving to Texas is unlikely to immediately change their views.
In the same town hall conversation, company leadership described the move to Texas as an effort to address the perception problem with California. That reasoning frustrated employees, who believe Meta is harming her staff to appease Trump, the three staffers told WIRED. Meta and Trump continue to litigate in a federal court in Northern California over the temporary suspension of his account following the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol. Trump claims his constitutional right to speech has been violated. According to The Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg recently met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida to mediate the lawsuit.
This week, Meta unveiled plans to cut 5 percent of its workforce from February. The company said it plans to fill these positions throughout the year — a move that could lead to more hiring in Texas. Following Meta's decision last week to end its diversity, equity and inclusion program, there will be no hiring targets for historically underrepresented groups.
Last week's changes to the hateful conduct rules allow users to express sharper criticism, including on gender and ethnicity. During the Rogan podcast, Zuckerberg said users would now be able to advocate on issues such as whether they should serve in military combat roles. Some employees have warned that Meta is now supporting the spread of misogyny and bigotry within its services, according to two of the employees.
During a town hall discussion with employees, an executive defended the policy changes, saying they would open the door to a multitude of perspectives, such as the ability to call men lazy on Facebook without fear of being censored, according to an employee present.
On the enforcement side, Meta is phasing out its current fact-checking program, limiting the use of automated filters to suppress supposedly offensive posts, and promoting a greater amount of political content in news feeds.
On Tuesday, 12 civil rights groups, who say they have been advising Meta for years, wrote a letter to the company expressing their “serious concerns” about the revised policy. “These changes are devastating to free speech because they will subject members of protected groups to even more attacks, harassment and harm, driving them from Meta's services, impoverishing conversations, eliminating viewpoints and dissecting dissenting and often censored voices be silenced,” wrote the group, which includes the Center for Democracy & Technology, Human Rights Campaign and the National Black Justice Collective.
In the town hall for safety and integrity, management would not commit to continuing to publish statistics on the gender and racial composition of the company's employees. “It's capitulation in the worst way,” says one.
Individually, some managers have told their teams they plan to continue pushing for a diverse workforce, three employees said.
Additional reporting by Steven Levy.
