Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced significant changes to the company’s moderation policies, transitioning from its existing fact-checking approach to a community-driven model. This announcement, made on Tuesday, reflects the evolving political and social landscape and aims to prioritize free expression on Meta’s platforms.
Zuckerberg stated, ‘We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.’ The changes will affect Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, which reach billions of users worldwide.
The company plans to replace its fact-checking program—with trusted partners—with a community-based system similar to the ‘Community Notes’ of competitor X (formerly known as Twitter). This shift, starting in the U.S., reflects Zuckerberg’s criticism of traditional fact-checkers, whom he called ‘too politically biased.’
As part of the new strategy, Meta will also stop restricting political content in users’ feeds, highlighting a pivot to more open discussions around political issues. Zuckerberg emphasized the influence of the recent elections on this decision, noting that, ‘The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech.’
Despite admitting that the company has made missteps with its current moderation systems resulting in excessive censorship, Zuckerberg clarified that the company would continue prioritizing content moderation against significant threats such as drugs, terrorism, and child exploitation.
While addressing future moderation systems, Zuckerberg explained the need for a high confidence threshold before content removal, suggesting a decreased focus on lesser violations. ‘It means 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,’ he said.
Upcoming adjustments will see some of Meta’s moderation policies around contentious topics like immigration and gender eliminated, instead relying on community reporting to flag issues. Moreover, Zuckerberg stated that the company will relocate its trust and safety and content moderation teams from California to Texas.
In response to the current political climate, Zuckerberg noted, ‘We’re going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are pushing to censor more.’ He highlighted the need for collaboration with the U.S. government to safeguard free speech globally.
This announcement aligns with a broader trend among social media companies to reassess their content moderation strategies amidst a backdrop of increasing scrutiny and political pressure regarding platform management and accountability.
