Google has dropped more than 50 DEI-related organizations from its funding list
Google CEO Sundar Pichai gestures to the crowd during Google’s annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, on May 20, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Google has purged more than 50 organizations related to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, from a list of organizations that the tech company provides funding to, according to a new report.
The company has removed a total of 214 groups from its funding list while adding 101, according to a new report from tech watchdog organization The Tech Transparency Project. The watchdog group cites the most recent public list of organizations that receive the most substantial contributions from Google’s U.S. Government Affairs and Public Policy team.
The largest category of purged groups were DEI-related, with a total of 58 groups removed from Google’s funding list, TTP found. The dropped groups had mission statements that included the words “diversity, “equity,” “inclusion,” or “race,” “activism,” and “women.” Those are also terms the Trump administration officials have reportedly told federal agencies to limit or avoid.
In response to the report, Google spokesperson José Castañeda told CNBC that the list reflects contributions made in 2024 and that it does not reflect all contributions made by other teams within the company.
“We contribute to hundreds of groups from across the political spectrum that advocate for pro-innovation policies, and those groups change from year to year based on where our contributions will have the most impact,” Castañeda said in an email.
Organizations that were removed from Google’s list include the African American Community Service Agency, which seeks to “empower all Black and historically excluded communities”; the Latino Leadership Alliance, which is dedicated to “race equity affecting the Latino community”; and Enroot, which creates out-of-school experiences for immigrant kids.
The organization funding purge is the latest to come as Google began backtracking some of its commitments to DEI over the last couple of years. That pull back came due to cost cutting to prioritize investments into artificial intelligence technology as well as the changing political and legal landscape amid increasing national anti-DEI policies.
Over the past decade, Silicon Valley and other industries used DEI programs to root out bias in hiring, promote fairness in the workplace and advance the careers of women and people of color — demographics that have historically been overlooked in the workplace.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to end affirmative action at colleges led to additional backlash against DEI programs in conservative circles.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order upon taking office in January to end the government’s DEI programs and directed federal agencies to combat what the administration considers “illegal” private-sector DEI mandates, policies and programs. Shortly after, Google’s Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi told employees that the company would end DEI-related hiring “aspirational goals” due to new federal requirements and Google’s categorization as a federal contractor.
Despite DEI becoming such a divisive term, many companies are continuing the work but using different language or rolling the efforts under less-charged terminology, like “learning” or “hiring.”
Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai maintained the importance diversity plays in its workforce at an all-hands meeting in March.
“We’re a global company, we have users around the world, and we think the best way to serve them well is by having a workforce that represents that diversity,” Pichai said at the time.
One of the groups dropped from Google’s contributions list is the National Network to End Domestic Violence, which provides training, assistance, and public awareness campaigns on the issue of violence against women, the TTP report found. The group had been on Google’s list of funded organizations for at least nine years and continues to name the company as one of its corporate partners.
Google said it still gave $75,000 to the National Network to End Domestic Violence in 2024 but did not say why the group was removed from the public contributions list.
WATCH: Alphabet’s valuation remains highly attractive, says Evercore ISI’s Mark Mahaney
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tries on Orion AR glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 25, 2024.
Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters
Since losing her 15-year-old son Riley to suicide following a sextortion scheme through Meta’s Messenger app, Mary Rodee has worked with advocacy groups to push for stronger protections for children online.
“I hold them solely responsible,” Rodee said about Meta in an interview with CNBC. “They have a responsibility for the safety of their users.”
Rodee is among a number of parents who are increasingly critical of organizations that are supposed to help children stay safe but accept money from Meta and other social media companies. Among these groups is the National Parent Teacher Association.
The National PTA is a nonprofit with more than 20,000 chapters and nearly 4 million members across the country that works with schools and families to advocate for children. The group’s website says its members “share a commitment to improving the education, health and safety of all children.”
A report published Tuesday by tech watchdog organization Tech Transparency Project alleges the group’s relationship with Meta “gives a sheen of expert approval” to the social media company’s “efforts to keep young users engaged on its platforms.” The report claims that Meta’s tactics are used to counter concerns that services like Instagram can be harmful to teens in an attempt to shape the public narrative.
“As Meta has come under growing pressure over its impact on kids and their well-being, the company has responded with a range of tactics to influence the public debate,” TTP wrote.
Meta has sponsored the National PTA for years, while the education advocacy group has promoted the company’s child safety initiatives without always noting its financial ties, TTP found.
The National PTA and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, have worked together since at least 2010. Meta’s presence is listed in the group’s events and social media posts.
“It’s unforgivable,” said Rodee of Canton, New York. “I just can’t get over these groups that convince themselves that there’s not blood on their hands, that this money is clean.”
Both Meta and the National PTA declined to share how much the social media company has contributed to the group.
“We’re proud to partner with expert organizations to educate parents about our safety tools and protections for teens, as many other tech companies do,” a Meta spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
In a statement to CNBC, the National PTA said that it doesn’t endorse any social media platform and it accepts sponsorship from Meta to have a “seat at the table” and to be a “strong, clear voice for parents and children.”
“Our collaboration with Meta provides an opportunity to help inform families about safety on its apps and the available tools (e.g., parental controls, age-gated features) and resources (e.g., parent’s guides, online safety centers),” the National PTA said in its statement.
Mary Rodee lost her 15-year-old son Riley to suicide following a sextortion scheme through Meta’s Messenger app.
Mary Rodee
Meta worked with the National PTA in 2017 to help roll out Messenger Kids, a chat app for children under 13 that the company said was developed in consultation with parent and safety groups, TTP wrote in its report. Facebook became a founding sponsor of the PTA Connected initiative the following year in 2018, the National PTA said in its statement to CNBC.
The National PTA can often be seen supporting Meta products on its Instagram account. For example, a post shared in June shows a group of PTA members at a digital safety workshop in front of a poster with Meta and the National PTA’s logo.
Riley, Rodee’s son, was a victim of sextortion on Meta’s platforms. Sextortion is the act of threatening to expose sexually compromising information unless certain demands are met. He was blackmailed by a person posing as a teenage girl on Facebook Messenger, Rodee said.
The fake account demanded Riley pay $3,500. He then took his own life, Rodee said. Sextortion schemes like this are on the rise across social media. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security received more than 3,000 sextortion tips in 2022, according to the Justice Department.
The Federal Trade Commission accused Meta in 2023 of misleading parents about their ability to control who their children communicate with on the Messenger Kids app. Meta has denied wrongdoing and is challenging both the FTC’s proposed restrictions and the constitutionality of the agency’s process.
A federal master complaint filed in March 2024 in California by school districts and local governments as part of a multi-district lawsuit against major social media companies alleges that platforms like Instagram and Facebook were intentionally designed to be addictive to young users. The complaint names the National PTA as one of the organizations Meta uses to reach children in schools.
“While Instagram may try to characterize this work as helpful to addressing youth mental health problems, they were more candid in other documents about using this as a strategy to get more teen users,” the filing states. “The goal of the parents plan was to get ‘parents to think, my kids are on social media, and my FAVORITE app for them to be on is Instagram, bar none.'”
In September 2024, Meta announced Instagram Teen Accounts, which gives users between 13 and 17 certain safeguards on the app. The release announcing the accounts included a quote from National PTA President Yvonne Johnson, without disclosing that Meta was a national sponsor of the organization.
“Given that parents today are grappling with the benefits and challenges of the internet and digital media for their teens, our association applauds Meta for launching Instagram Teen Accounts,” Johnson said in the release.
Instagram’s Teen Accounts feature has received mixed responses when it comes to how effectively it protects kids. Some users still saw inappropriate content on Instagram, according to a report from ParentsTogether.
“This strategy of telling parents that these products are safer than they really are puts kids in danger,” said Shelby Knox, online safety campaign director at ParentsTogether.
The Meta spokesperson said that Teen Accounts give protections to limit who can contact teens on Instagram.
Other parent groups like Smartphone Free Childhood U.S. and Parents for Safe Online Spaces have reached out to the National PTA to voice their concern of accepting money from social media companies that they say are dangerous to their children.
The National PTA’s other sponsors also include Google, YouTube, TikTok and Discord.
In 2024, TikTok gave the National PTA more than $300,000 for programs about teens and social media, even as the platform itself faced mounting criticism over its impact on teens.
The PTA is just one example of Meta’s strategy, according to the TTP report. Meta also created Trust, Transparency & Control Labs, also known as TTC Labs, in 2017. The organization works to collaborate on safety efforts.
While TTC Labs is clearly labeled as a Meta creation, TTC has produced reports on Instagram Teen Accounts and Horizon Worlds. Meta has cited these reports as evidence of its commitment to child safety.
Meta and other social media platforms have been blamed for causing harm to children.
A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general sued Meta in 2023, alleging features on Facebook and Instagram are addictive and are aimed at kids and teens.
In July, Meta said it eliminated 600,000 profiles linked to predatory behavior and enhanced direct messaging protections on Instagram.
“PTAs in schools are trusted organizations, so their support of companies that are using people and children for profit is just unforgivable,” Rodee said.
If you are having suicidal thoughts or are in distress, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for support and assistance from a trained counselor.
WATCH: Elon Musk asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to join xAI bid to buy OpenAI
EchoStar stock roared more than 75% higher on Tuesday after AT&T said it agreed to purchase certain wireless spectrum licenses from the telecom company for about $23 billion in an all-cash deal.
The sale will add about 50 megahertz of mid-band and low-band spectrum to AT&T’s network, with the licenses covering more than 400 markets across the U.S., AT&T said. The deal is expected to close in mid-2026, pending regulatory approval.
EchoStar said in a regulatory filing that the transaction is part of the company’s “ongoing efforts to resolve the Federal Communications Commission’s inquiries.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote in a May letter addressed to EchoStar cofounder and Chairman Charlie Ergen that the agency’s staff would investigate the company’s compliance with federal requirements to build a 5G network.
The letter followed complaints from Elon Musk‘s SpaceX that EchoStar had left “valuable mid-band spectrum chronically underused,” and the FCC should take steps to let “new satellite entrants” put it to use.
SpaceX owns Starlink, which provides internet service through a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites.
As part of Tuesday’s announcement, AT&T and EchoStar also agreed to expand their network services agreement, enabling EchoStar to operate as a hybrid mobile network operator providing wireless service under the Boost Mobile brand.
“EchoStar and Boost Mobile have met all of the FCC’s network buildout milestones,” Ergen said in a statement. “However, this spectrum sale to AT&T and hybrid MNO agreement are critical steps toward resolving the FCC’s spectrum utilization concerns.”
AT&T CEO John Stankey told CNBC that the deal is “a win all the way around.”
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to see more services put together the way customers want to buy them together,” Stankey said in an interview on “Squawk Box.” “And as a result of that, I think ultimately regulators are going to look at this and say it’s very, very attractive.”
AT&T shares rose less than 1 percent.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment11 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024