We’ve all heard of the TikTok ban already. On top of that, many users of social media apps such as Instagram and Facebook are signing off as well. But this isn’t due to a ban, it’s due to a boycott.
Meta, an American technology company that owns Instagram, Threads, Facebook, and Whatsapp, has been making some changes due to the recent election that are contributing to this worldwide boycott. “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech, so we’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms,” says Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, in a video he uploaded to Instagram.
To achieve this, the company has announced the removal of fact checking and moderation systems on all of their platforms, once again allowing uncensored political discourse on their apps. In the past, many Republicans have expressed concern that fact checkers disproportionately censor right-wing content, and Zuckerberg has conveyed his agreement by claiming that the current system is too politically biased.
Meta will be shifting to a system similar to X’s Community Notes, which allow users of the app to “collaboratively add context to potentially misleading posts” as X states on its Help Center page. While this doesn’t seem like a negative system on the surface, user-sourced fact checking can lead to the rampant spread of misinformation across platforms.
Another announcement that has raised concern is Meta’s movement to simplify their current policies for immigration and gender, including the specific policy that disallows users to call people mentally ill based on their sexual or gender identities. He claims that these policies were originally a movement to be more inclusive, but have now “gone too far” according to Zuckerburg, and have limited the ability of certain users to share their beliefs. This will only achieve an increase in hate speech and discrimination on Meta apps, as these topics are a large proponent of current political discourse.
Zuckerburg donated nearly 1 million dollars to Trump’s inauguration this year, a strategic move to warm up to the President Elect after Trump threatened to imprison him for life if he interfered with the 2024 election. This strategy seems to have worked, because in the wake of this announcement, the President Elect has praised Zuckerburg, telling Fox News News Digital that Meta has “come a long way.” X CEO Elon Musk showed his support as well, writing, “This is cool” in a post on X.
