Q&A with Ruth Livier: 'DEI Is at the Core of an Authentic Democracy'

In response to executive orders Trump issued at the beginning of his term, most of the nation’s largest media companies have abandoned prior commitments to promote diversity, equity and inclusion principles in their workplaces, policies and reporting.

A comprehensive Free Press report — COMPLICIT: Corporate Media’s Capitulation to Trump’s Attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — sheds new light on the ongoing capitulation of major media, tech and telecom companies to the dictates of a bigoted and corrupt administration. The study documents how companies including Apple, Comcast, Meta, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have caved to Trump — and hastened the ongoing assault on our democracy.

I spoke to the report author, my colleague Ruth Livier, about her findings. 

Could you talk about some of the initial findings that emerged when you began your research?

A few things immediately stood out in the process of data collection. One, this is a dynamic space with changes happening from one day to the next. I’d research a company, and when I went back to review the information weeks later, I’d see that some companies that seemed to be upholding their DEI commitments had changed.

The deployment of doublespeak was another thing that surfaced. Some companies would claim to uphold DEI, but on closer look, I’d discover more covert ways in which what they claimed did not match what they practiced.

Last, we can’t have an authentic democracy without diversity, equity and inclusion. DEI is at the core of an authentic democracy. It became clear that by gutting their DEI efforts, corporate media is complicit in eroding our democratic values and in normalizing white supremacy.

As you note in your report, several companies capitulated before Trump even took office. Could you talk about a couple of the offenders in this category?

Let’s talk Amazon. Jeff Bezos was very quick to align himself with Trump. Amazon dropped their efforts before the president’s inauguration. Their VP of inclusive eXperiences, Candi Castleberry Singleton, told employees in December 2024 that the company was “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to DEI by the end of that year. The tech giant deleted DEI language from its 2024 annual report. Bezos also signaled his allegiance to Trump by donating $1 million to his inaugural committee.

And Amazon earns significant revenue from the ICE-deportation machine as AWS — its cloud-computing platform — provides the backbone for these operations. The company’s willingness to help the Trump regime terrorize immigrants signals a disdain for vulnerable communities. It is thus not surprising that Amazon ended its DEI efforts soon after the 2024 election.

And of course we’re seeing continued capitulation from Amazon. It spent $40 million for the rights to the documentary on Melania Trump — a film that essentially functions as state propaganda.

And under Trump, Bezos continues to increase his wealth while firing workers. It’s no surprise given Amazon’s well-documented history of labor abuses.

You discuss how 26 of the top 35 media companies rolled back various DEI policies and practices just days or weeks after Trump issued his anti-DEI executive orders on Jan. 20 and 21. What did these orders involve?

Trump deployed two anti-DEI executive orders in his first two days in office in 2025. In many ways they form the foundations of his authoritarian-takeover attempt. Within hours of his swearing-in on Jan. 20, Trump signed the executive order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” and he signed the executive order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” on Jan. 21.

Together, these orders make it clear that Trump aims to eradicate programs and initiatives aimed at equalizing opportunities for us all. And to ensure that corporate media comply with his anti-diversity, equity and inclusion demands, Trump weaponized the FCC. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been using these executive orders, positioning DEI as a bargaining chip to capture the media.

What we’ve found is that corporate media have capitulated on DEI for a variety of reasons: Their moves are motivated by racism, fears of legal threats and retaliation from the Trump regime, and the desire to secure approvals of proposed deals or other regulatory favors from the Trump FCC. Their retreat from DEI programs and initiatives is not based on any legal imperative, as civil-rights laws are enshrined in our Constitution.

They could have refused to comply, as Netflix has. The Netflix board urged shareholders to reject an anti-DEI proposal a conservative shareholder group brought to the company’s annual meeting, stating: “The proposal is unnecessary as Netflix already has a well-established compliance program and relevant policies and practices. Netflix is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training, or promoting on any basis protected by law.”

Could you discuss some of the methods of capitulation you’ve uncovered?

The methods point to some of the ways in which media companies have scaled back or folded their DEI efforts while at times claiming to uphold these commitments. Companies like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google support ICE and their campaign of terror with their tech capabilities. As I mentioned before, Amazon’s AWS provides the backbone for ICE’s operations. And Apple and Google blocked ICE-tracking apps used to aid communities in sharing info about ICE operations. But it’s not just the tech companies that profit from and support ICE.

When media companies advance Trump’s lies and MAGA propaganda about immigrant communities or about those that dare to dissent from the regime and instead stand up for humanity and justice, these companies are also complicit.

As you noted earlier, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has abused the power of his agency to pressure companies to end DEI initiatives. Could you discuss some of the strategies he’s used?

Carr is playing a key role as Trump’s media extortionist, threatening and coercing media companies to capture and control them so they become megaphones for the administration’s MAGA propaganda. For example, Paramount ended its DEI efforts to help win approval of the Skydance merger. Then, in the wake of the merger, Paramount disbanded CBS News’ Race and Culture Unit, which disproportionately affected producers of color.

And in a May 15 letter to the FCC, Verizon promised to end its DEI programs as it sought approval of its merger with Frontier Communications. The FCC approved this deal on May 16. Chairman Carr pointed to Verizon’s “commitment to end” DEI practices as a key factor in this approval. Carr has been on attack mode, abusing his power by threatening to withhold approval of mergers and acquisitions until companies capitulate to Trump.

Throughout the report you link the dismantling of DEI to the dismantling of our democracy. Could you talk more about this?

In an authentic democracy, diversity, equity and inclusion are not optional efforts we can opt in and out of; they are, instead, the very foundations of a free and fair society. Without the diverse and equitable inclusion of diverse people and perspectives in our society, we do not have a democracy. DEI programs and initiatives are a corrective measure to our nation’s history of erasure, segregation and marginalization of diverse communities. They were established so that companies could fulfill their civil-rights commitments, which are enshrined in our Constitution.

Read COMPLICIT: Corporate Media’s Capitulation to Trump’s Attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to learn more.