Mark Zuckerburg in 2017.
Credit: MZ, Facebook.
Facebook and Instagram are to do away with censorship policies that have been dragging the social media giants’ popularity down for years.
Meta, the parent company of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has revealed an enormous U-turn in its content moderation and control implemented in recent years after criticism about its control of political and ideological bias.
Facebook & Instagram getting rid of third-party censors
The company is to end its third-party data verification program, adopting instead a system similar to Elon Musk’s X, based on ‘Community Notes’ generated by users. And it will also reduce restrictions and manipulation on issues that are part of the general public discourse.
In a publication titled ‘More speech, less mistakes’, Joel Kaplan, the company’s new director of global affairs, has detailed that Meta will focus more on censoring illegal infractions. Users will now be encouraged to personalise their political experience, which will open the door to a greater flow of opinions and biases that fit their own preferences.
This decision marks a seemingly ideological turn away from political control within the Meta leadership. The move ‘coincidentally’ comes with Mark Zuckerberg’s panicked efforts to prepare for buttering up Donald Trump, who will assume his second presidency on January 20.
Recently, Meta announced that Dana White, one of Trump’s allies, would join its board of directors, along with other new members. The company also promised to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and for Zuckerberg to request a position on a government board on technology policies.
Kaplan appointed by Facebook & Instagram to repair Trump relationship
Joel Kaplan is the key Meta hopes will repair their relationship with Donald Trump. Kaplan has just been appointed president of the company’s Global Affairs team, replacing Nick Clegg, who had been developing censorship policies since 2018 and who announced his resignation recently.
Kaplan, an outspoken Republican, acknowledged that the changes in content moderation are directly related to the presidential transition. ‘There has been social and political pressure in the last four years towards more moderation and censorship. But now we have a new administration coming in that defends freedom of expression; that is what has made the difference,’ he said.
In 2016, Meta implemented a data verification program after criticism about the spread of fake news, particularly with regard to elections, health (Covid pandemic), and social issues. Over the years, Meta incorporated additional measures, such as automated systems to reduce the visibility of certain content they did not agree with, and the creation of the Supervisory Board, an independent body responsible for playing judge and jury on content moderation.
However, Meta has now decided to axe external data verifiers and focus its efforts on serious cases such as terrorism, child exploitation, drug trafficking, fraud, and scams, while users will have to report on other types of content before Meta evaluates it.
