Meta Cracks Down on Internal Dissent Against Appointment of UFC’s Dana White to Board

Meta is allegedly curtailing interior disapproval of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement connected Monday that Dana White would beryllium added to its committee of directors. 404 Media reported connected the deletion of comments employees near connected Workplace, an interior mentation of Facebook accessible to employees. Some of the comments highlighted video footage from 2022 showing White, an outspoken Trump protagonist and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, slapping his woman astatine a New Year’s Eve party. He was ne'er charged implicit the altercation.

According to 404, immoderate employees expressed excitement astir the assignment oregon made joking comments. One employee, for instance, wrote “W” portion different wrote, “We prosecute Connor [McGregor] adjacent for aft enactment sparring?” Connor McGregor, a UFC fighter, was recovered blameworthy of intersexual battle by a civilian tribunal aft a pistillate accused him of rape successful 2018.

Others were displeased by Meta’s determination and the celebratory comments from colleagues. “Kind of disheartening to spot radical successful the comments celebrating a antheral who is connected video assaulting his woman and different who was precocious convicted of rape,” 1 worker commented. “I tin benignant of excuse individuals for being unaware, but Meta surely did their owed diligence connected White and concluded that what helium did is fine. I consciousness similar I’m connected different planet.”

Tech giants similar Meta and Google were celebrated successful their aboriginal days for allowing freewheeling interior discussions and dissent, believing that it would marque them enjoyable places to enactment and pb to the champion merchandise decisions. But arsenic these companies person metastasized into world-spanning companies with hundreds of thousands of employees, they person mostly curtailed unfastened treatment oregon worker protests. High-profile controversies similar the anti-diversity memo written by a erstwhile Google worker caused overmuch interior havoc and enactment teams crossed the manufacture yet threw their hands up. The workplace is for work, oregon truthful the reasoning goes, not airing governmental grievances.

In removing the comments astir White, a subordinate of Meta’s “Internal Community Relationships” squad explained to employees that they violated the company’s interior rules for discussion, called “Community Engagement Expectations.” “I’m posting a remark present with a reminder astir the CEE, arsenic aggregate comments person been flagged by the assemblage for review. It’s important that we support a respectful enactment situation wherever radical tin bash their champion work. We request to support successful caput that the CEE applies to however we pass with and astir members of our community—including members of our Board. Insulting, criticizing, oregon antagonizing our colleagues oregon Board members is not aligned with the CEE.”

Meta’s communications squad stressed to 404 that the institution has antithetic rules for discussions internally and those that hap connected its platforms including Facebook and Instagram.

Zuckerberg has been connected a full-court property to delight President-elect Trump, starting with a $1 cardinal donation helium made to the inauguration.

Following White’s assignment connected Monday, Zuckerberg contiguous made a bid of announcements regarding contented moderation successful a video that tin champion beryllium described arsenic a masterclass successful governmental theater. The announcements included that Meta would driblet its fact-checking apparatus successful favour of an X-style assemblage notes system; leave a tiny moderation squad successful place which would beryllium relocated from California to Texas “to destruct bias”; let governmental contented connected Facebook and Instagram again aft suppressing it successful caller years; and assistance restrictions connected contented pertaining to treatment of sex and immigration.

On that past point, Meta updated its assemblage guidelines to licence “allegations of intelligence unwellness oregon abnormality erstwhile based connected sex oregon intersexual orientation, fixed governmental and spiritual sermon astir transgenderism and homosexuality.” In essence, it is present good to suggest being cheery is attributable to intelligence illness.

Put together, the moves look similar not overmuch much than calculated moves to appease Trump, who nether his archetypal medication threatened to lock Zuckerberg up for the remainder of his life. Zuckerberg past week replaced the caput of Meta’s governmental apparatus with a Republican insider, showing helium volition alteration his views connected a dime erstwhile it is politically expedient.

Trump was asked astir Zuckerberg’s determination to loosen contented restrictions during a Mar-a-Lago property league aboriginal Tuesday. After a writer asked whether Trump believed Zuckerberg was making the changes successful effect to his erstwhile threats, Trump responded, “probably.”

Did we notation a big antitrust case against Meta is heading to tribunal successful April? Trump could prevention Meta execs including Zuckerberg a batch of nationalist grilling nether oath.