Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making significant changes to the social internet, aligning with President-elect Donald Trump’s desires and those of his supporters. The new policies will relax content moderation rules on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, allowing more permissive posting of conservative opinions.
Zuckerberg cited the recent elections as a “cultural tipping point” towards prioritizing speech, justifying relaxed rules and citing concerns about censorship by governments and legacy media. Meta’s dominance in the industry will amplify these changes, reshaping the internet with MAGA-friendly content.
The company’s announcement came after being exclusive to Trump’s favorite TV show, Fox & Friends, and was further supported by Joel Kaplan, a former senior adviser to George W. Bush, who appeared on the show and agreed with its framing of censorship versus freedom.
Meta is also facing antitrust scrutiny from the US government, with an FTC case set to go to trial in April. Zuckerberg’s comments hinted at a desire for a “sweetheart deal” from the Trump administration, which has been critical of him and Facebook in the past.
The new policies will scrap partnerships with third-party fact-checking groups, replacing them with an X-style “community notes” system. Meta will become more laissez-faire about content on its platforms, aiming to undo “mission creep” that made rules too restrictive.
Conservatives welcomed the changes, while misinformation experts warned that false and hateful content would likely increase on the platforms. The move may lead to layoffs at news outlets reliant on funding from Facebook and Google.
Zuckerberg also announced plans to bring back civic content, tweaking algorithms to show more posts about elections, politics, and social issues. This change aims to balance users’ desire for less politics with their need for more information on these topics.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/07/media/mark-zuckerberg-meta-fact-checking-analysis/index.html