Facebook announces Roy Austin will lead new internal civil rights organization

Facebook announced that Roy L. Austin, Jr., will join the company as vice president of civil rights and deputy general counsel to establish the company’s new internal civil rights organization.

Said Austin in the announcement:

"Technology plays a role in nearly every part of our lives, and it’s important that it be used to overcome the historic discrimination and hate which so many underrepresented groups have faced, rather than to exacerbate it. I could not pass up the opportunity to join a company whose products are used by so many and which impacts the civil rights and liberties of billions of people, in order to help steer a better way forward.” 

Roy Austin Joins Facebook as VP of Civil Rights

"We need to enhance the team and the processes we’ve put in place to oversee civil rights issues," Facebook said in its July 2020 civil rights audit. "For example, by bringing more civil rights expertise in-house and better integrating civil rights issues into our policy and product work."