Meta tells staff to stop discussing abortion |
A Meta executive has told staff that they are banned from discussing abortion on Workplace, an internal version of Facebook, citing “an increased risk” that the company is seen as a “hostile work environment.” The policy, which Meta introduced in 2019 but hasn’t until now been reported, prohibits workers from discussing “opinions or debates about abortion being right or wrong, availability or rights of abortion, and political, religious, and humanitarian views on the topic,” according to a section of the company’s internal 'Respectful Communication Policy' reviewed by The Verge. Meta’s VP of HR, Janelle Gale, said during an all-hands meeting with staff that abortion was “the most divisive and reported topic” by employees on Workplace. She said that “even if people are respectful, and they’re attempting to be respectful about their view on abortion, it can still leave people feeling like they’re being targeted based on their gender or religion . . . It’s the one unique topic that kind of trips that line on a protected class pretty much in every instance.” Some Meta employees have urged management to ditch the policy following a leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. They contend that the prohibition is at odds with employees being allowed to talk “respectfully” about issues such as Black Lives Matter, immigration, and trans rights.