Meta employees criticize company’s new speech policy, board additions | Wilnesh News

Yuan Employees criticized the company’s decision to end third-party fact-checking on its service in an internal forum on Tuesday, two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

After Joel Kaplan, Meta’s new chief global affairs officer and former White House deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush, announced changes to the content policy of internal communications tool Workplace, company employees expressed their frustration Worry.

Kaplan wrote in the post: “We are optimistic that these changes will help us return to our basic commitment to free speech.” CNBC commented on this.

The content policy announcement follows a series of decisions that appear to be aimed at appeasing the incoming administration. On Monday, Meta added new members to its board of directors, including UFC CEO Dana White, a longtime friend of Trump’s who the company confirmed last month would donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.

In the latest change, Kaplan announced that Meta will abandon its fact-checking program and move to user-generated systems such as X’s Community Comments. Kaplan, who took over his new role last week, also said Meta would lift restrictions on certain topics and focus enforcement on illegal and highly serious violations while providing users with “a more personalized approach to political content.” .

One employee wrote that they were “extremely concerned” about the decision and said Meta seemed to be “sending a bigger, stronger message to people that facts no longer matter and conflating it with a victory for free speech.” “

Another employee commented, “Simply absolving oneself of responsibility to at least try to create a platform that is safe and respective is a very sad direction to go in.” Other comments expressed concerns about the impact the policy change could have on immigration, gender identity, and more Concerns about the impact of the discussion on the topic could lead to “an influx of racist and transphobic content,” according to one employee.

Another employee said they were concerned “we’re getting into really dangerous territory, paving the way for further spread of misinformation.”

The changes were not universally criticized, with some Meta employees congratulating the company on its decision to end third-party fact-checking. One of them wrote that X’s community annotation feature “has been shown to better reflect the truth.”

Another employee commented that the company should “do an accounting of the worst outcomes from earlier years,” which would require establishing a third-party fact-checking program and whether new policies would prevent similar issues from happening again.

According to CNBC, Meta has also canceled an internal fact-checking project as part of the company’s massive layoffs in 2023. The program will let third-party fact-checking agencies such as The Associated Press and Reuters, as well as trusted experts, comment on flagged articles to verify the content.

Although Meta announced on Tuesday that it was ending its fact-checking program, the company has since withdrawn it. In September, an AP spokesperson told CNBC that the news agency’s “fact-checking agreement with Meta ends in January 2024.”

Employees also posted criticisms, questions and jokes on Workplace after Monday’s announcement that White was joining the board, according to posts reviewed by CNBC. Technology News Media 404 Media report Earlier in a workplace post involving White.

White, who has led the UFC since 2001, was embroiled in controversy in 2023 after TMZ released a video showing him slapping his wife at a New Year’s Eve party in Mexico. Gray hair public apologyand his wife, Anne White, issued a statement to TMZ, saying it was an isolated incident.

A commenter on “Workplace” jokingly asked whether performance reviews would now involve mixed martial arts-style fights.

In addition to White, John Elkann, chief executive of Italian auto holding company Exor, was also appointed to Meta’s board of directors.

Some employees asked what value the automotive and entertainment chief could bring to Meta and whether White’s addition reflected the company’s values. One post suggested that the new board appointments would contribute to political alliances, which could be valuable but could also change company culture in unexpected or unwelcome ways.

Comments in Workplace that alluded to White’s personal history were flagged and removed from the discussion, according to internal app posts seen by CNBC.

An employee who identified himself as Meta’s internal community relations team posted a reminder to Workplace about the company’s “Community Engagement Expectations” policy (CEE) for use of the platform.

“The community has flagged multiple comments for review,” the employee posted. “It’s important that we maintain a respectful work environment where people can do their best work.”

The internal community relations team member added, “Insulting, criticizing or confronting our colleagues or board members is not consistent with CEE.”

Several employees responded to the message, saying that even polite posts (if critical) were deleted, amounting to a form of corporate censorship.

One employee said the person wanted to show support for “women and all voices” after the critical comment was removed.

Mehta declined to comment.

—CNBC’s Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report.

watch: Meta adds Dana White, John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst to its board of directors.