Meta is rethinking its approach to free expression on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. The company recognizes that over-enforcement of its content moderation policies has led to mistakes, censorship, and frustration for users.
Mark Zuckerberg argued in 2019 that inhibiting speech, even with good intentions, can reinforce existing power structures rather than empower people. Meta is now shifting its focus from complex fact-checking systems to a more community-driven approach through the introduction of Community Notes.
Community Notes will require agreement between users with diverse perspectives to help prevent biased ratings. Meta plans to be transparent about how different viewpoints inform the notes and will expand transparency reporting to share numbers on mistakes made by automated systems.
The company is also making changes to its enforcement policies, including reducing restrictions on topics like immigration and gender identity. Automated systems will focus on high-severity violations, such as terrorism and child sexual exploitation, while relying on human review for less severe cases. Meta aims to provide more confidence in its content decisions and reduce demotions of valid content.
Furthermore, the company is introducing a more personalized approach to political content, phasing back its reduction of civic content from user feeds and instead ranking and recommending content based on explicit signals and implicit signals that help predict what’s meaningful to users. These changes aim to return to Meta’s commitment to free expression, being vigilant about policy impacts and having the humility to change its approach when necessary.
By embracing a more community-driven approach to moderation and reducing over-enforcement of its policies, Meta hopes to create a safer and more inclusive environment for users to express themselves freely.
Source: https://about.fb.com/news/2025/01/meta-more-speech-fewer-mistakes