Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park (Photo: Disclosure)
An executive from the meta group that controls Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp banned employees from handling abortions on the internal social network. The group’s head of product Naomi Gleit’s guidance will be based on a 2019 document, which discusses the same topic, but tackles the companies’ physical environments.
Dubbed the “Respect Communication Policy”, the text in question prohibits “opinion or debate about the right or wrong of abortion, the availability or right of abortion, and political, religious and humanitarian views on the subject”. Currently, according to Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of HR, it’s the most discussed — and most divisive — employee on the forum.
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The domestic directive comes at a time when the US Supreme Court is about to vote on a bill on the right to abortion in the country. Today, states follow a decision of the same body, enacted in 1973, which establishes that the Act is protected by the Constitution.
Meta’s position goes against the grain of some other large US companies, which took a stand and even began supporting employees who wanted to move to another state to have abortions. Companies like Apple, Amazon, Citibank, Microsoft and Levi Strauss will begin paying for travel expenses and even include the procedure in their medical insurance coverage.
In the case of Meta, according to a document obtained by the US portal ledgeThe exception is for discussions that are conducted “with trusted colleagues in a private setting” or “listening sessions with a small group of 5 like-minded people to show solidarity”.
According to the site, some officials have called for the rule to be abolished, as it contradicts the space to speak “respectfully” about the Black Lives Matter movement, immigration and the rights of transgender people. The Meta Group did not take any stand in the matter.
