Meta is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, known as DEI, the company said Friday, becoming the latest company to pull back from such practices in the wake of pressure from conservative critics and customers.

Meta joins companies like Walmart, Lowe’s and Ford, which have already announced they would scale back their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

A memo from Meta says DEI has become ‘charged’ because such practices are seen as delivering ‘preferential treatment of some groups over others.’

The end of the company's DEI efforts means that it will no longer use a "diverse slate approach," which it began implementing in 2015. According to a 2017 blog post on Meta's website about the strategy, it "sets the expectation that hiring managers will consider candidates from underrepresented backgrounds when interviewing for an open position."

Axios reports that Meta is eliminating its biggest DEI efforts, effective immediately, including ones that focused on hiring a diverse workforce,

Meta’s DEI team will be cut under the new decision, according to the memo. The company also plans to end all equity and inclusion programs and instead focus on “how to apply fair and consistent

Among the changes, Meta is ending the company’s “Diverse Slate Approach” of considering qualified candidates from underrepresented groups for its open roles.

Meta’s vice president of human resources announced the company would cut its DEI team and end its goal of choosing business suppliers from “diverse-owned” businesses “effective immediately.”

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will terminate all DEI programs—including in hiring, training and selecting suppliers. “The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,