Meta, Roe v. Restricting Wade’s Overthrow in Internal Debate

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Meta told its employees on Friday not to discuss the situation openly. The decision of the Constitutional Court abolishing the right to abortion People with knowledge on the subject spoke on the wide-ranging communication channels within the company.

Executives at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, speaking on condition of anonymity, spoke of a company policy at work that places “strong railings around social, political and sensitive conversations.” Managers, employees, Roe v. They said they referred to a May 12 company memo issued following a draft opinion on the potential ousting of Wade. leaked From the Supreme Court.

In a May 12 note obtained by The New York Times, Meta said that “openly discussing abortion in the workplace risks creating a hostile work environment” and therefore “takes the stance that we will not allow open discussion”. ”

People said that the policy led to frustration and anger. On Friday, some contacted colleagues and executives to express their opposition to the company’s stance. Two people said admins were advised to be empathetic but neutral on the matter, while messages that violated the policy were removed in team chats. In the past, Meta employees often used internal communication forums to discuss sociopolitical issues and current events.

Meta software engineer Ambroos Vaes said: in a post On LinkedIn, he said he was upset that employees were “not allowed” to widely discuss the Supreme Court decision. “Moderators will quickly remove posts or comments that mention abortion,” the company wrote on its internal communications platform. “Limited discussions may only be in groups of up to 20 employees watching a particular playbook, but not outside.”

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment.

Friday’s action was Meta’s latest attempt to quell contentious internal debates after years of worker unrest and leaks to media outlets. Inside 2020The company has updated its Respectful Communications Policy to limit some workplace discussions, according to the May 12 memo.

The changes came after internal strife over the police murder of a Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis two years ago. Meta employees were told that they are no longer allowed to discuss political or social issues in company-wide channels on the company’s employee message board, Workplace.

In October, Meta made some Workplace groups private after a former employee, Frances Haugen, leaked thousands of internal research documents to the media. Staff complained loss of openness and cooperationAccording to reviews seen by The Times.

In the May 12 note, Meta said it previously allowed open discussion of abortion in the workplace, but later acknowledged that it had led to “significant disruptions in the workplace given the unique legal complexities and the number of people affected by the issue.” The memo said the policy led to a high amount of complaints to the human resources department and that many internal messages about abortion were removed because they violated the company’s harassment policy.

The memo asked employees struggling with the Supreme Court’s decision to support one another in one-on-one meetings or small groups of “like-minded colleagues.”

On Friday, to address employee concerns about the Supreme Court ruling, Meta said it would reimburse travel expenses “to the fullest extent permitted by law” for employees who need “access to out-of-state health and reproductive services.”

Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s chief operating officer, who said he’s leaving the company this fall a Facebook post “The Supreme Court’s decision puts the health and lives of millions of girls and women across the country at risk,” she said on Friday.

“It threatens to undo the progress women have made in the workplace and to deprive women of economic power,” she wrote. “It will make it harder for women to achieve their dreams.”

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