On Tuesday, Meta announced significant changes to its content moderation approach, set to take effect in the coming months. One of the key changes includes the removal of professional fact-checking. However, the company also quietly updated its hateful conduct policy, introducing new allowances for user posts that take effect immediately.
For instance, the policy now permits users to refer to “women as household objects or property” and use the term “it” for “transgender or non-binary people,” previously prohibited content. Additionally, Meta’s updated policy now permits “allegations of mental illness or abnormality” based on gender or sexual orientation, given the political and religious debates surrounding transgenderism and homosexuality.
Such comments, which would have previously been removed under the old guidelines, are now allowed under the revised policy.
In its announcement, Meta had signaled the removal of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender identity, opening the door to more political discussions. The revised policy illustrates how quickly Meta is implementing CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of promoting “free expression.”
On Tuesday, Meta announced it would be ending its network of independent fact-checkers in the United States, replacing them with user-generated “community notes” to provide context for posts. The company also stated it would modify its automated systems that previously scanned for policy violations, acknowledging that these systems had led to the unnecessary removal of content. Going forward, the automated systems will focus on extreme violations such as child sexual exploitation and terrorism.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the new approach might lead to fewer harmful posts being flagged, but he emphasized that it would also reduce the number of innocent users’ posts and accounts being mistakenly removed.
A Meta spokesperson clarified that while the company is loosening some restrictions, it will continue to prohibit attacks based on ethnicity, race, and religion, as well as slurs. The company will also continue to enforce policies against bullying, harassment, and incitement to violence.
These changes come amid Meta and Zuckerberg’s efforts to gain favor with Donald Trump and other Republicans ahead of the president-elect’s second term, aligning with criticisms that Meta had been “censoring” conservative voices. Trump praised the changes, suggesting they were likely the result of threats he had made to Zuckerberg in the past. However, some experts have raised concerns that these changes could result in more viral misinformation and hate speech on Meta’s platforms.
In addition to the changes in content moderation, Meta also removed the prohibition against statements denying the existence of “protected” groups, such as claims that certain groups shouldn’t exist. The updated policy also now permits content advocating for “gender-based limitations” in military, law enforcement, and teaching jobs. Furthermore, the company updated its misinformation policy to reflect the dissolution of its U.S.-based fact-checking network.