Not many Meta Employees should move to Texas after all

It is unclear whether the relocation of the teams to Texas will be anything more than symbolic. Common sense suggests that if a person in California shows some sort of political preference, moving to Texas is not likely to strengthen their views immediately.

In the same municipal call, the leadership of the company described the transfer of Texas as an attempt to address the perception problem with California. This reasoning has frustrated employees, who believe Meta is harming their workforce to appease Trump, the three staffers told WIRED. Meta and Trump remains in litigation in a federal court in northern California for the temporary suspension of his account after the riot of January 6, 2021 in the Capitol of the United States. Trump says his constitutional right to free speech has been violated. Zuckerberg recently met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida to mediate the lawsuit, according to him The Wall Street Journal.

This week, Meta plans revealed to cut 5 percent of its workforce starting in February. The company said it plans to fill those positions throughout the year — a move that could see more employees hired in Texas. Following Meta’s decision last week to close its diversity, equity and inclusion program, there will be no hiring targets for historically underrepresented groups.

Last week’s changes to hateful conduct rules allow users to post harsher criticism, including about gender and ethnicity. During Rogan’s podcast, Zuckerberg said that users will now be able to advocate on issues such as whether to serve in military combat roles. Some employees warned that Meta now supports the spread of misogyny and bigotry on its services, according to two of the workers.

On the town hall call with employees, an executive defended the policy changes saying they would open the door to a multitude of perspectives, such as being able to call lazy men on Facebook without fear of being censored, according to an employee present.

On the enforcement side, Meta stands out their current fact-checking programlimiting the use of automated filters to suppress allegedly offensive posts, and promoting a greater amount of political content in newsfeeds.

On Tuesday, 12 civil rights advocacy groups said they have advised Meta for years he wrote to the company to express “serious concern” with the revised policies. “These changes are devastating for free expression because they subject members of protected groups to more attacks, harassment and harm, removing Meta’s services, impoverishing conversations, eliminating viewpoints, and silencing dissenting and often censored voices,” he wrote the group, which includes the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Black Justice Collective.

In the municipality of security and integrity, the management does not undertake to continue publishing statistics on the gender and racial composition of the company’s employees. “It’s capitulating in the worst way,” says one.

Individually, some executives have told their teams they plan to continue pushing for a different hire, according to three employees.

Additional reporting by Steven Levy.