TWH – Many leaders of the Pagan, Witchcraft, Heathen, and polytheist community we serve have voiced concerns today about Facebook and Instagram’s recent decision to remove their fact-checking programs, a move orchestrated by parent company Meta. Since 2022, Meta has gradually reduced its content moderation and policy teams, citing cost-cutting measures. Philosophically, early signs of these changes can be traced to 2016. However, today’s announcement is sweeping.
In a public statement posted on Meta’s website, accompanied by a video featuring CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company announced the cessation of its long-standing fact-checking initiative in the U.S.A. This policy, originally implemented to curb misinformation according to Meta, will be replaced by a user-driven model called Community Notes.
Zuckerberg justified the shift, stating, “It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression.” He admitted that the fact-checking program had become flawed, leading to frequent errors and excessive censorship. “The reality is that this is a trade-off,” he added. “We’re going to catch less bad stuff, but we’ll also reduce the number of innocent posts and accounts we accidentally take down.”
Meta Logo
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, outlined a new approach emphasizing user correction of inaccurate posts and a personalized strategy for political content. The company expressed regret over its previous direction, admitting that it had veered too far from its core values. According to Meta, future policy enforcement will prioritize tackling illegal activities and severe violations such as terrorism, child exploitation, and fraud.
Since Donald Trump’s victory 2016, Meta has made noticeable efforts to align with the former president. During his first term, Trump accused social media platforms of bias against conservatives.
Meta’s move has been swift but not surprising. During a 2019 speech at Georgetown University, Zuckerberg articulated his reluctance to serve as an “arbiter of speech,” emphasizing Facebook’s mission to provide a platform for diverse voices. He reiterated this sentiment while announcing the recent policy change, expressing regret over yielding to pressure from the Biden administration to remove content related to COVID-19. Zuckerberg claimed that some of the White House’s takedown requests were excessive and targeted humor and satire.
Meta’s latest moves, including ending the fact-checking program, appear to be part of a broader strategic pivot as Trump prepares for another presidential term. Notably, Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November 2024, and Meta contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
Joel Kaplan, a senior Meta executive with strong ties to the Republican Party, has been elevated to a key policy role, and UFC president Dana White, a staunch Trump ally, will join Meta’s board.
Meta executives reportedly informed Trump’s team about the policy change in advance. On Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Kaplan declared that Meta’s fact-checking program had exhibited excessive political bias. Trump welcomed the changes during a press conference, attributing them to his past threats against Zuckerberg. “They’ve come a long way,” Trump said, adding that the shift was likely influenced by his warnings.
In response to criticism about external influence on Meta’s policies, Kaplan stated, “There’s no question that the decisions at Meta come from Mark,” but acknowledged Trump advisor Elon Musk’s role in shifting the debate toward free expression. Musk purchased Twitter, now X, to become a global public square for uncensored discourse. Musk has expressed that all discourse, inflammatory or otherwise, is equal.
Conservatives have long criticized Meta’s practice of flagging misleading posts. Senator Rand Paul described the policy reversal as “a huge win for free speech,” while Senator Marsha Blackburn suggested it was a tactic to avoid regulation.
While Meta plans to relax restrictions on politically charged topics such as immigration and gender identity, it will continue removing content that violates laws or poses significant risks. The company aims to phase in more personalized political content based on user preferences. It’s not clear what form that might take.
Some of the immediate consequences are visible via Meta’s Transparency Center. “We define hateful conduct as direct attacks against people — rather than concepts or institutions — on the basis of what we call protected characteristics (PCs): race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease. ” The company writes, “e also protect refugees, migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers from the most severe attacks (Tier 1 below), though we do allow commentary on and criticism of immigration policies.”
Wired, CNN, and the New York Times all reported that users may now be allowed to, for example, refer to “women as household objects or property” or “transgender or non-binary people as ‘it,’” according to a section of the policy prohibiting such speech that was crossed out. A new section of the policy notes Meta will allow “allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality.”
Among the other changes to Meta’s hateful conduct policy, the company appears to have removed a prohibition against statements denying the existence of “protected” groups, such as statements that a certain group of people doesn’t or shouldn’t exist. The policy also now allows for content arguing in favor of “gender-based limitations of military, law enforcement, and teaching jobs.”
Religious oppression appears to remain a serious offense in Meta. In addition, “Harmful stereotypes historically linked to intimidation or violence, such as Blackface; Holocaust denial; claims that Jewish people control financial, political, or media institutions; references to Dalits as menial laborers; and comparing Black people to farm equipment” all remain in Tier 1, the most serious level.
However, how minority faiths will be treated is still unclear.
The Transparency Center does state “Mental characteristics, including but not limited to allegations of stupidity, intellectual capacity, and mental illness, and unsupported comparisons between PC groups on the basis of inherent intellectual capacity. We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like “weird.”
The company also updated its “misinformation” policy to note the dissolution of its US-based fact-checking network.
Meta’s policy is clearly USA specific. It notes, “If you are a European Union user, and are seeing content that you believe violates hate speech laws within your country, you can submit a legal removal request to Facebook or Instagram.”
Note: This is a developing story. TWH will continue to update and report new information as it becomes available.
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