Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, removed some LGBTQ protections from its hate speech rules on Tuesday amid a broader review of the social media giants' content moderation practices.
Under its newly updated hateful conduct policy, Meta now allows users to accuse LGBTQ individuals of being mentally ill, despite originally banning such content. Allow.
Meta's policy states: “Given political and religious discourse regarding transgenderism and homosexuality, we do not tolerate allegations of mental illness or abnormality based on gender or sexual orientation.”
The updated language also allows users to make claims about “gender-based restrictions in the military, law enforcement, and teaching professions,” as well as similar content based on sexual orientation when tied to religious beliefs.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced major changes to his company's content moderation policy on Tuesday, which he says are “going back to basics, reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and… It explained that the initiative is “focused on restoring freedom of expression.”
As part of the overhaul, Meta is eliminating its third-party fact-checking program and replacing it with a community-based program called Community Notes.
Similar to Elon Musk's X program of the same name, Meta's Community Notes relies on users to submit notes and corrections to posts that are potentially misleading or lack context.
Zuckerberg also announced that the social media giant would change its policies on divisive issues such as immigration and gender.
“What started as a movement to become more inclusive has gone too far, increasingly being used to shut down voices and shut out people who think differently,” he said in a video posted Tuesday. . “So we want to enable people to share their beliefs and experiences on our platform.”
“It felt like a cultural tipping point to prioritize speech again,” Meta's CEO said, pointing to the company's recent election to change direction.
Mr. Zuckerberg has long had a rocky relationship with President-elect Trump, but after the election, he seems intent on repairing his relationship with the president-elect, meeting with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago and offering his inaugural fund. donated $1 million to.
President Trump praised Meta's announcement Tuesday, saying the company has “come a long way.” Asked whether the move was in response to threats against Zuckerberg, the president-elect said “probably.”
