Meta warns its employees not to discuss “abortion” in the workplace

San Francisco, May 20: Meta (formerly Facebook) has banned the use of the word “abortion” in its internal employee messaging platform called Workplace, citing the “increased risk” that the social media platform could be seen as a “hostile work environment”.

According to a report in The Verge, Meta’s executive director told employees on Thursday that they were banned from talking about abortion in the workplace according to their policies.

The policy prohibits employees from discussing “opinions or debates about whether abortion is right or wrong, accessibility or rights to abortion, and political, religious and humanitarian views on the subject,” the report said. Meta freezes hiring for several verticals, says Mark Zuckerberg: “There are no job cuts.”

Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, reportedly told staff at the meeting that abortion was “the most divisive and reported topic” by Workplace employees.

Officials denied the move, saying the policy was at odds with other company policies that allowed discussion of “blacks’ lives are important”, immigration and trans rights.

Cheryl Sandberg, Meta’s chief operating officer, called abortion “one of our most fundamental rights.”

“Every woman, no matter where she lives, should be free to choose whether and when she becomes a mother. Few things are more important for women’s health and equality,” she wrote recently on her Facebook page.

However, one of Meta’s top executives, Naomi Glate, wrote in an internal publication that “there are many sensitive points in the workplace around this topic that make it difficult to discuss in the workplace.”

She said that employees were only allowed to discuss abortion at work “with a trusted colleague in a personal setting (eg live, chat, etc.)” and in a listening session with a small group of up to 5 people with unanimity so they can enjoy conversations with them. show solidarity “.

The policy of banning the discussion of abortions has caused division among Meta employees, the report said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 20, 2022, 1:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, the world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, visit our website latestly.com) .