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Tech Platforms Vowed to Address Racial Equity: How Have They Fared?


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These companies spoke significantly about increasing diversity, but have they followed through?

Technology platforms are facing growing pressure to back their promises of increased diversity with action.

Credit: Gabriel Alcala/The Guardian

Facebook and other major technology platforms pledged to improve their diversity and antiracism efforts this year in response to racial unrest in the U.S.

Facebook vowed to boost the number of Black people in leadership positions by 30% in the next five years, and to double its number of Black and Latinx employees overall by 2023.

Despite hefty commitments to race-positive and diverse organizations and businesses, Facebook is still criticized for permitting hate speech on its platform, and for not strictly enforcing bans on calls to violence.

Twitter committed to diverse hires, targeting women to represent half of its workforce by 2025, and for "underrepresented minorities" to represent 25% of its U.S. workforce.

As of May, women represented just 42% of its workforce, Latinx 5.1%, and Blacks 6.3%. The company still faces criticism for not addressing significant hate speech on its platform, and for allowing the circulation of misinformation.

From The Guardian (U.K.)
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Abstracts Copyright © 2020 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA


 

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