Cheyenne Suarez

Rise in 'harmful content' since Meta policy rollbacks: survey

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>WASHINGTON, United States — Harmful content including hate speech has surged across Meta&#x27;s platforms since the company ended third-party fact-checking in the United States and eased moderation policies, a survey showed Monday.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/10/meta-s-fact-check-pivot-to-hit-orgs-in-ph-global-south-worst-experts-1549">Meta’s fact-check pivot to hit orgs in PH, ‘Global South’ worst — experts</a></div><p>The survey of around 7,000 active users on Instagram, Facebook and Threads comes after the Palo Alto company ditched US fact-checkers in January and turned over the task of debunking falsehoods to ordinary users under a model known as &quot;Community Notes,&quot; popularized by X.</p><p>The decision was widely seen as an attempt to appease President Donald Trump&#x27;s new administration, whose conservative support base has long complained that fact-checking on tech platforms was a way to curtail free speech and censor right-wing content.</p><p>Meta also rolled back restrictions around topics such as gender and sexual identity. The tech giant&#x27;s updated community guidelines said its platforms would permit users to accuse people of &quot;mental illness&quot; or &quot;abnormality&quot; based on their gender or sexual orientation.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/1/7/meta-abruptly-ends-us-fact-checks-ahead-of-trump-term-2337">Meta abruptly ends US fact-checks ahead of Trump term</a></div><p>&quot;These policy shifts signified a dramatic reversal of content moderation standards the company had built over nearly a decade,&quot; said the survey published by digital and human rights groups including UltraViolet, GLAAD, and All Out.</p><p>&quot;Among our survey population of approximately 7,000 active users, we found stark evidence of increased harmful content, decreased freedom of expression, and increased self-censorship.&quot;</p><p>One in six respondents in the survey reported being the victim of some form of gender-based or sexual violence on Meta platforms, while 66 percent said they had witnessed harmful content such as hateful or violent material.</p><p>Ninety-two percent of surveyed users said they were concerned about increasing harmful content and felt &quot;less protected from being exposed to or targeted by&quot; such material on Meta&#x27;s platforms.</p><p>Seventy-seven percent of respondents described feeling &quot;less safe&quot; expressing themselves freely.</p><p>The company declined to comment on the survey.</p><div><strong>&#x27;MINIMAL IMPACT&#x27;</strong></div><p>In its most recent quarterly report, published in May, Meta insisted that the changes in January had left a minimal impact.</p><p>&quot;Following the changes announced in January we&#x27;ve cut enforcement mistakes in the US in half, while during that same time period the low prevalence of violating content on the platform remained largely unchanged for most problem areas,&quot; the report said.</p><p>But the groups behind the survey insisted that the report did not reflect users&#x27; experiences of targeted hate and harassment.</p><p>&quot;Social media is not just a place we &#x27;go&#x27; anymore. It&#x27;s a place we live, work, and play. That&#x27;s why it&#x27;s more crucial than ever to ensure that all people can safely access these spaces and freely express themselves without fear of retribution,&quot; Jenna Sherman, campaign director at UltraViolet, told AFP.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/11/28/-anti-woke-americans-hail-death-of-diversity-inclusion-policies-as-another-domino-topples-1133">&#x27;Anti-woke&#x27; Americans hail &#x27;death&#x27; of &#x27;diversity, inclusion&#x27; policies as another domino topples</a></div><p>&quot;But after helping to set a standard for content moderation online for nearly a decade, (chief executive) Mark Zuckerberg decided to move his company backwards, abandoning vulnerable users in the process.</p><p>&quot;Facebook and Instagram already had an equity problem. Now, it&#x27;s out of control,&quot; Sherman added.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/1/8/disinformation-experts-slam-meta-decision-to-end-us-fact-checking-1050">Disinformation experts slam Meta decision to end US fact-checking</a></div><p>The groups implored Meta to hire an independent third party to &quot;formally analyze changes in harmful content facilitated by the policy changes&quot; made in January, and for the tech giant to swiftly reinstate the content moderation standards that were in place earlier.</p><p>The International Fact-Checking Network has previously warned of devastating consequences if Meta broadens its policy shift related to fact-checkers beyond US borders to the company&#x27;s programs covering more than 100 countries.</p><p>AFP currently works in 26 languages with Meta&#x27;s fact-checking program, including in Asia, Latin America, and the European Union.</p><div><strong>— By Anuj Chopra, Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UVlW58-zr4I?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>But in its most recent quarterly report, published in May, Meta insisted that the changes in January had left a minimal impact.</p>

But in its most recent quarterly report, published in May, Meta insisted that the changes in January had left a minimal impact.