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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has implemented new changes to its hate speech rules.
Some shit you should know before you read: Earlier this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a wide-ranging overhaul of the company’s policies and practices, including significant changes to content moderation and organizational leadership. First, Zuckerberg announced the appointment of UFC President Dana White, a prominent supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, to Meta’s board. Additionally, Meta replaced its third-party fact-checking program with a user-driven initiative called “Community Notes,” which allows users to submit and vote on contextual notes for posts, aiming to enhance transparency and reduce misinformation. Zuckerberg framed these changes as an effort to simplify policies, minimize moderation errors, and prioritize free expression on Meta’s platforms, aligning with what he described as a cultural and political tipping point. According to Zuckerberg, these adjustments are intended to help Meta “get back to its roots.”
What’s going on now: In another major announcement, Meta revised its hate speech policies to permit certain types of content previously prohibited, particularly regarding LGBTQ individuals. Users are now allowed to accuse LGBTQ people of being mentally ill or abnormal based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, citing political or religious discourse as justification. The company said, “We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird.'” Similarly, arguments supporting gender-based limitations in professions like teaching, law enforcement, and military roles, when tied to religious beliefs, are now acceptable under Meta’s guidelines.
However, the platform maintains its broader prohibition against insults related to intelligence or mental illness unless tied to these newly outlined exceptions.
Advocacy groups fireback: In a statement, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said, “Without these necessary hate speech and other policies, Meta is giving the green light for people to target LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanizing narratives. With these changes, Meta is continuing to normalize anti-LGBTQ hatred for profit — at the expense of its users and true freedom of expression. Fact-checking and hate speech policies protect free speech.”
