April 12, 2025 Story by: Publisher
A two letters was sent to Mark Zuckerberg Friday, as the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) has removed itself from Meta’s external civil rights advisory group. The reason is due to concerns over content moderation and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policy changes.
Earlier this year, Meta announced several changes to its content moderation policies, including ending third-party fact checking and removing automated systems that cull hateful speech.
“LDF worked hard and in good faith with Meta’s leadership and its civil rights advisory group to help ensure the company’s workforce reflected the values and racial makeup of the United States and to advance policies that prioritized safety for the many diverse communities who use Meta’s platforms,” Todd A. Cox, Associate-Director Counsel at LDF said. “Now, we cannot in good conscience support a company that is knowingly taking steps to implement policy changes that will sow further division and violence across the United States. We urge Meta to reverse course on these dangerous changes.”
The letter from LDF to Mark Zuckerberg highlights that these changes will have a series of negative consequences for Black and other historically marginalized communities, ranging from rises in hate-motivated violence to an increased spread of mis- and disinformation.
Separately, LDF also sent a letter to Meta urging the company to reverse course on the decision to roll back diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies. This change could reinforce discriminatory barriers to employment at Meta and further exacerbate the potential for harm to Black communities using Meta’s platforms.
The action from LDF comes after the organization joined a coalition of other civil rights organizations to draw Zuckerberg’s attention to the dangers of its content moderation policies.
Source: NAACP LDF
