Meta has introduced sweeping changes to its content moderation policies. It is expected to significantly change the platform’s treatment of sensitive discussions. Notably, one of the changes is that external fact-checkers would no longer be part of the process, which has formed a bedrock of the entire platform’s content review process.
Another broad change is that the site has removed certain content limitations previously in place on discussing immigration, gender self-identification, and even gender. In the words of Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, “out of touch with mainstream discourse” is how he characterized current rules, which, he says, reflect what people actually discuss in their lives.
At present, Meta’s Community Guidelines highlight types of content that do not find a place within the confines of all social media platforms, particularly Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. Some of the most serious changes are those brought to the “Hateful Conduct” policy, which now allows content that makes “allegations of mental illness or abnormality on grounds of gender or sexual orientation.” Perhaps, the reason for this change is also the fact that current political and religious rowdies go on over arguments about transgender issues and homosexuality and their casual use of term “weird” in public discourse.
Even with the modifications, however, Meta did not give extensive details about the changes. The spokesperson for the company, Core Chambliss, confirmed to WIRED that changes would be administered to the company worldwide.
Another substantive modification in the Hateful Conduct policy is the deletion of verbs targeting individuals based on specific “protected characteristics,” such as race, ethnicity, and gender identity. Such content is now also allowable if linked with claims related to the coronavirus. So, would they allow users to say that women shouldn’t serve in the military or that men shouldn’t teach math because of their gender? Meta now allows arguments that champion “gender-based limitations of military, law enforcement, and teaching jobs.”
The former Hateful Conduct policy warned that hateful speech often “promotes violence off the Internet.” The new policy continues with the warning that the content could “incite imminent violence or intimidation,” but maintains a number of other long-standing restrictions. Bans on Holocaust denial and on blackface, on conspiracy theories about Jewish people controlling the media, and on derogatory comparisons of Black individuals to “farm equipment.”
These changes also show a shift within Meta overall on the moderation issue. According to these sources, the company wants to balance the freedoms of its users with community safety and to evolve as public conversations evolve.