(Reuters) -Amazon.com eliminated a reference to "inclusion and diversity" in its annual report filed on Thursday, after telling employees in December that it was winding down diversity programs as part of corporate America's broader retreat from such policies.

Some of the biggest U.S. businesses have been scaling back their diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.

Big technology companies Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google are among those that have rolled back such programs in the face of attacks from conservative groups, which have threatened to sue firms over them.

For the last two years, Amazon's ( AMZN ) "human capital" section of its annual report said: "As we strive to be Earth's best employer, we focus on investment and innovation, inclusion and diversity, safety, and engagement to hire and develop the best talent."

In the 2024 version, that sentence has been cut.