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In a meeting with Meta employees on Thursday, Mr. Zuckerberg also doubled down on recent changes to the company’s online speech policies and ending its diversity initiatives.
By Mike Isaac
Mike Isaac has reported on Meta and its apps since 2010.
Jan. 30, 2025Updated 6:21 p.m. ET
In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with Meta employees on Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, defended recent changes he had made to loosening restrictions on online speech and ending diversity initiatives, and doubled down on embracing President Trump’s new administration.
“I want to be clear, after the last several years, we now have an opportunity to have a productive partnership with the United States government,” Mr. Zuckerberg said, according to a recording of the meeting shared with The New York Times. “We’re going to take that.”
Mr. Zuckerberg, 40, said it was “fundamental” for Meta — the world’s biggest social media company with Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp — to be on better terms with governments around the world.
“The government can sort of be actively opposing you, trying to get in the way and add a lot of friction, or can be actively trying to help you break down barriers to help you,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
In the hourlong meeting with Meta’s more than 70,000 employees, Mr. Zuckerberg also said that 2025 would be a significant year for potentially transformative initiatives of Meta’s business, including focusing on artificial intelligence, data centers and the immersive world of the metaverse.
Mr. Zuckerberg’s remarks signaled his tightened grip over Meta as he has remade the company for the Trump era, to the consternation of some of his employees. This month, Mr. Zuckerberg announced sweeping changes to reduce Meta’s restrictions on speech, ended a fact-checking program and killed diversity efforts in the workplace. He also showed up to President Trump’s inauguration and has criticized former President Biden’s administration for being anti-tech.
