Chris Rufo: Zuckerberg’s pivot away from DEI reflects changing culture

CV NEWS FEED // Conservative scholar Christopher Rufo weighed in on the recent decision by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg to end far-left diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at his technology conglomerate Meta Platforms Inc. (“Meta”). Meta is the parent company of the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram.

Meta’s announcement that it was backtracking on the DEI programs it had once embraced came just days after Zuckerberg said the company’s platforms would replace their controversial “fact-checks” with a community notes service similar to the one currently used by X (formerly Twitter), Meta’s main competitor. 

Rufo explained that both moves by Zuckerberg’s tech giant took place amid a cultural shift marked by the decisive election victory of incoming President Donald Trump – who is set to begin his second term Monday.

“Zuckerberg’s move was carefully calculated and impeccably timed,” Rufo wrote in a Monday piece for City Journal. 

“This is no small about-face,” Rufo continued. “Just four years ago, Zuckerberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars funding left-wing election programs; his role was widely resented by conservatives. And Meta had been at the forefront of any identity-based or left-wing ideological cause. Not anymore.”

Rufo noted that as a “part of the rollout for the announcement, Zuckerberg released a video and appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast, which now functions as a confessional for American elites who no longer believe in left-wing orthodoxies.”

>> LAST WEEK: ZUCKERBERG DITCHES ‘FACT-CHECKING’ ON META <<

During his appearance on Rogan’s enormously popular show, “Zuckerberg sounded less like a California progressive than a right-winger,” Rufo indicated. 

“The most important signal emanating from this decision is not about a particular shift in policy,” Rufo went on to write, “but a general shift in culture.”

Rufo pointed out that “Zuckerberg has never really been an ideologue,” adding that the tech mogul is “independent-minded and has clearly chafed at the cultural constraints DEI placed on his company.”

“So he seized the moment, correctly sensing that the impending inauguration of Donald Trump reduced the risk and increased the payoff of such a change,” Rufo added.

Rufo replied to a user on X who had speculated that Zuckerberg would not have made his apparent “anti woke” pivot had Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won last year’s presidential election. 

“Zuckerberg followed the status markers in adopting DEI, now he’s following the status markers in winding it down,” Rufo wrote. “He is a lagging indicator, which is good: it means that DEI has lost massive support within the American elite.”

The Washington Post reported Tuesday afternoon that Meta “is planning to push out ‘low performers’ faster” and elaborated that the potential sweeping layoffs “could affect 5 percent of the company.”

“Zuckerberg said he has decided to ‘raise the bar on performance management,’ as the company forges ahead in building out AI-powered services and immersive devices,” the Post’s report added.

Notably, Zuckerberg’s major rival, X owner Elon Musk, laid off thousands of employees, amounting to 80% of the platform’s staff, when he purchased X, then known as Twitter, in 2022.

Readers can find Rufo’s full piece here.