Is Meta Pivoting To The Right With Its New Content Policy, What’s Changed For Facebook, Instagram? – News18

Last Updated:January 10, 2025, 12:58 IST

Meta is removing independent fact checkers for Facebook and Instagram and replacing them with user-generated ‘community notes’ where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users. The sweeping changes come just ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration

In a sweeping change that could alter the way content is moderated online, Meta is removing the third-party fact checkers for Facebook and Instagram and will replace them with user-generated “community notes” where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users – similar to Elon Musk’s X.

In a video post, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderators were “too politically biased” and “it was time to get back to our roots around free expression”.

The changes come just before Donald Trump takes charges as President next week. And Zuckerberg seeks to improve relations with Trump and other Republicans who had lambasted him in the past for the alleged censorship of right-wing voices.

What Are The Changes In Content You Will See

According to the current fact-checking programme, which was introduced in 2016, posts that appear to be false or misleading are referred to independent organisations to verify their authenticity and credibility.

The programme was lauded as a step towards restoring trust, and to curb the influence of viral hoaxes and disinformation campaigns.

As per the new content moderation policy, posts flagged as inaccurate can have labels attached to them offering viewers more information, and be moved lower in users’ feeds. That will now be replaced “in the US first” by community notes.

Meta says it has “no immediate plans” to remove third-party fact checkers in the United Kingdom or the European Union. The new community notes system has been copied from X, which introduced it after being bought and renamed by Elon Musk.

Meta’s blog post said it would also “undo the mission creep” of rules and policies. “It’s not right that things can be said on TV or the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms,” it added.

It also plans to adjust its automated systems that scan for policy violations, which it says have resulted in “too much content being censored that shouldn’t have been.” The systems will now be focused on checking only for illegal and “high-severity” violations such as terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud and scams. Other concerns will have to be reported by users before the company evaluates them.

Meta also published sweeping changes to its “Hateful Conduct” Community Standard. The policy, formerly known as the Hate Speech Community Standard, is now written to specifically allow more hateful content targeting transgender people, immigrants, and women–including cisgender women.

On self-harm and depressive content, Meta clarified that there would be “no change to how we treat content that encourages suicide, self-injury, and eating disorders”.

How Is The New Policy Being Viewed?

Meta’s Chief of Global Affairs Joel Kaplan told Fox that Meta’s partnerships with third-party fact checkers were “well intentioned at the outset but there’s just been too much political bias in what they choose to fact check and how.” “Too much harmless content gets censored, too many people find themselves wrongly locked up in “Facebook jail,” and we are often too slow to respond when they do,” wrote Kaplan on Tuesday.

Zuckerberg has, however, acknowledged that the new policy could create new problems for content moderation. “The reality is this is a tradeoff,” he said in the video. “It means that we’re going to catch less bad stuff, but we’ll also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts that we accidentally take down.”

Meanwhile, fact-checking organisation Full Fact — which participates in Facebook’s programme for verifying posts in Europe — said it “refutes allegations of bias” made against its profession. The body’s chief executive, Chris Morris, described the change as a “disappointing and a backwards step that risks a chilling effect around the world,” as quoted by the BBC.

According to a report by 404 media, leaked internal discussions reveal widespread dissatisfaction among employees, who describe the new rules to associate LGBTQ+ identities with “mental illness” as “unacceptable” and “appalling.”

Reports also suggest that Google Searches on how to delete Facebook and Instagram are surging. There has reportedly been reduced engagement on Facebook and Instagram ever since the change in policy.

How Meta Is Shifting To The Right

Meta announced on Tuesday the appointment Republican Joel Kaplan as its Chief of Global Affairs, replacing Sir Nick Clegg. Just one day earlier, Meta announced Trump ally and UFC CEO Dana White would join its board, along with two other new directors.

Kaplan acknowledged on Tuesday that the announcement is directly related to the changing administration.

Meta has also said it will donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, and that Zuckerberg wants to take an “active role” in tech policy discussions. “No question that there has been a change over the last four years. We saw a lot of societal and political pressure, all in the direction of more content moderation, more censorship, and we’ve got a real opportunity. Now, we’ve got a new administration, and a new president coming in who are big defenders of free expression, and that makes a difference,” he told CNN.

The Real Facebook Oversight Board — an outside accountability organisation, whose name is a play on the company’s official group, comprised of academics, lawyers and civil rights advocates including early Facebook investor Roger McNamee — said the policy changes represent Meta going “full MAGA.”

Zuckerberg was among several CEOs who have travelled to Trump’s Florida estate Mar-Lago to meet with the incoming president, in November.