Meta to begin fresh layoffs, cutting heavily among business staff – The Washington Post

Three months ago, Meta touted recent wins in detecting the increasingly robust campaigns by Russian-based operatives to covertly influence world affairs in the wake of the war in Ukraine.President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg told reporters during a press briefing that despite slashing spending as the company lays off thousands, Meta was well positioned to keep up the fight against foreign influence campaigns, misinformation and other problematic content.Meta could both become more efficient and offer “the industry’s leading integrity and safety measures across the company,” he said.Now, Clegg’s optimism is being put to the test as the social media giant prepares this month to hand out a new round of pink slips to workers in its business divisions, including teams that handle content moderation, policy and regulatory issues.Affected employees are expected to be notified Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter, part of a months-long downsizing effort.But at least a half-dozen current and former Meta employees who have worked on trust and safety issues say severe cuts in those divisions could hamper the company’s ability to respond to viral political misinformation, foreign influence campaigns and regulatory challenges. They say they worry that the layoffs — which are expected
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