Ahead of President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has drastically moved the firm to the right with a number of policy and practice changes in the past week that have angered some users, workers, and interest groups.
The scope of the changes goes far beyond social media moderation, according to Zuckerberg, who said that some of the modifications to Meta’s fact-checking and moderation systems were intended to prevent censorship and safeguard free speech on its platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. They reportedly touched on Meta’s internal policies regarding its board and restrooms as well as the optional aesthetic theming that it had previously used on one of its platforms to celebrate trans people.
In the past week, Meta has implemented all of these adjustments.
Community Notes instead of third-party fact-checkers
A system akin to X’s Community Notes will be introduced in the coming months, beginning in the US, to replace Meta’s outdated fact-checking system, which it announced last Tuesday it was discontinuing.
Introduced in 2016, Meta’s fact-checking system identified posts that seemed to contain false information by having certified third-party fact-checkers run certain content on its platforms. The fact-checkers, Zuckerberg claimed, were excessively politically biased and had eroded more trust than they had restored.
Users will have the ability to compose and rate notes that can be appended to posts under the new Community Notes system. These notes can offer more context that the original postings might not have. In a press statementIn order to counteract any prejudice, Meta stated that consensus from individuals with different viewpoints will be necessary for a note to appear when the modifications are announced.
Republicans have frequently defended X’s Community Notes system; in the past, many have attacked Meta’s fact-checking system, arguing that it unfairly singles out right-wing content. However, research has shown that conservatives are more likely to spread false information, which in turn draws moderation efforts. Opponents of Meta’s reforms worry that they will permit false information to spread widely on its platforms.
In a Facebook video, Zuckerberg clarified that Meta would also alter its enforcement guidelines, claiming that the majority of censorship on its platforms was caused by the shortcomings of the existing system. According to him, the new Community Notes system will handle lower severity violations, and users will need to proactively report postings that may include misinformation or lack context. The new filtering system will primarily target illegal and high severity infractions.
Reactions to the announcement have been conflicting.
Numerous Meta staff members have voiced concerns with the plan to discontinue third-party fact-checking. On Workplace, the company’s internal messaging platform, an employee expressed how very troubled they were by the decision, saying that it appeared Meta was delivering a more powerful message to the public that facts are no longer important and confusing that with a triumph for free expression.
The decision was described as “extremely serious” by Brazilian President Luiz Incio da Silva, and the nation’s attorney general has threatened to pursue legal and judicial action against Meta if it fails to provide an explanation for its new fact-checking procedures.
The new method has received praise from several right-wing figures. According to Brooke Singman of Fox News, Trump responded by stating that Meta has advanced significantly. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, also commended the revisions, adding, “This is cool on X.”
More political content
Zuckerberg stated in the video that was uploaded last Tuesday that Meta wants to encourage political discussion to return to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
In the video, Zuckerberg declared, “We’re bringing back civic content.” We stopped promoting these topics when the community requested that there be less political content for a spell because it was causing tension. However, it seems like a new age has begun, and we are beginning to receive comments indicating that people would like to see this stuff once more.
He went on to say that the company’s choice to modify its fact-checking system and strive toward giving speech priority was greatly influenced by the recent election. Additionally, he stated that it intends to collaborate closely with the incoming Trump administration in order to counteract governments worldwide that are targeting American corporations and attempting to impose more censorship.
It’s been particularly challenging over the last four years, when even the U.S. government has pushed for censorship, because the only way we can reverse this worldwide trend is with the backing of the U.S. government, Zuckerberg added.
Before Meta started censoring its political content in 2021, a Brookings Institution study discovered that conservative podcasters could frequently reach over 28 million followers on Facebook and Twitter by disseminating inaccurate and deceptive content.
easing restrictions on anti-LGBTQ speech and discontinuing Meta’s employee resources and diversity initiatives
Through an internal communications forum on Friday, Meta informed its staff that it would discontinue a number of its initiatives to hire diverse applicants, such as its Diversity Slate Approach in the hiring process and the dissolution of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team.
Additionally, according to the New York Times, two Meta employees said that the firm had ordered its locations in Silicon Valley, Texas, and New York to take tampons out of the men’s restrooms that were provided for its transgender and nonbinary staff.
According to 404 Media, Meta removed transgender and nonbinary themes from their Messenger software. Users can alter the conversations’ styles and colors using the app’s themes feature; the trans and nonbinary themes use the colors of the respective transgender and nonbinary flags. In honor of Pride Month, Meta unveiled the two themes, launching the nonbinary theme the next year and the trans theme in June 2021.
Additionally, Meta revised its Hateful Conduct policy to permit posts that refer to LGBTQ individuals as mentally ill.
The policy states, “Given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality, as well as common non-serious usage of words like weird, we do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation.”
Users may use sex- or gender-exclusive language when discussing access to areas that are frequently restricted by sex or gender, such as restrooms, particular schools, military, law enforcement, or teaching roles, and health or support groups, in addition to posting about gender-based restrictions on these occupations under the Hateful Conduct policy.
In the Facebook video, Zuckerberg announced that Meta would be streamlining its content restrictions with respect to issues like immigration and gender.
He claimed that what began as an effort to be more inclusive has gone too far in being used to silence dissenting voices and exclude those who hold different views. On our platforms, I want to ensure that people can express their opinions and experiences.
Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer at Meta, also told Fox News that the company’s prior method was overly limiting when it came to delicate subjects like gender, immigration, and transgender concerns.
High-profile departures and new hires
This month, after nearly seven years, former U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced his resignation as Meta’s president of global affairs. Kaplan, a Republican who served as deputy chief of staff in the White House, has taken over.
In addition, Microsoft’s former head of strategy Charlie Songhurst, John Elkann, CEO of the Italian auto holding group Exor, and Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a longtime Trump ally, are joining Meta’s board of directors.
Before being offered a position on Meta’s board, White stated in a Meta news release that he had no interest in joining a board of directors.According to 404 Media, Meta’s staff members responded to the news of his appointment with jokes and criticism on Workplace. The company’s Internal Community Relations team removed the posts since they were deemed to be in violation of the company’s Community Engagement Expectations.
Roy Austin, Meta’s deputy general counsel and vice president for civil rights, announced his resignation on Facebook the day the company announced it was discontinuing its diversity initiatives.
Jobs in a red state
Additionally, Zuckerberg announced that Meta’s content moderation, safety, and trust teams would relocate from California to Texas.
According to him, “I believe that as we strive to support free expression, that will help build trust to do this work in places where there is less concern about the bias of our teams.”
Following the announcement, former Meta employees posted on Threads, Meta’s own platform, and the social media site Bluesky that Meta already had safety and trust moderation teams operating in Austin, Texas.
In July, Musk also relocated the headquarters of SpaceX and X from California to Texas. In the same month, the U.S. Supreme Court sent a case back to a lower court, raising concerns about the validity of Florida and Texas legislation that attempted to control the content moderation methods of social media sites.