GLAAD

In the past two weeks, Meta has made major rollbacks to hate speech policies that aim to protect marginalized communities across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. The company also terminated its global fact-checking program and corporate policies that help make these platforms safer and more inclusive for all. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims that Meta's new  content moderation policies were made in an effort to “reduce censorship,” but it’s clear to us whose speech he aims to protect. Sign the petition to make your voice heard.

GLAAD today joins our fellow members of Meta’s external civil rights advisory group in expressing our grave concern surrounding Meta's recently announced content moderation policy changes. These changes will permit more dangerous and abusive content on Meta’s platforms and undermine the quality of information available, harming the users Meta claims to serve. Please read the full letter from GLAAD and American Association of People with Disabilities, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Center for Democracy & Technology, Common Cause, Human Rights Campaign, Legal Defense Fund, Muslim Public Affairs Council, National Black Justice Collective, National Fair Housing Alliance , National Urban League.

Meta is becoming a front line antagonist to the LGBTQ community and they’re utilizing their platform in order to do that. Using free speech as a shield to harass and antagonize a marginalized community needs to be called what it is, which is harassment. https://lnkd.in/eMQubXzf

“They [Meta] are becoming a front line antagonist to the LGBTQ community and they’re utilizing their platform in order to do that," said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. "Using free speech as a shield to harass and antagonize a marginalized community needs to be called what it is, which is harassment.”

This week Meta modified major sections of its Hateful Conduct policy (to allow anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, and remove protections for LGBTQ users); terminated its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs; deleted trans and nonbinary themes on Messenger; and ended its fact-checking program. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis spoke out today saying: “Meta’s sweeping, hate-driven corporate policy and product changes this week are shocking and dangerous. These changes will harm users and make Meta’s platforms unsafe for everyone. Meta is now an anti-LGBTQ company.”

All students deserve to be themselves and be safe in school. Transgender and nonbinary students are among the most bullied and harassed. Protections for the most vulnerable students make the entire school safer and stronger for everyone. https://lnkd.in/ekqP7Y6J

BREAKING: Meta has quietly removed major sections of its hate speech policy protecting LGBTQ people, people of color, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups. Today’s alarming policy changes will allow anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, and cease to protect LGBTQ users from being targeted with such attacks. For example, the company will now allow content targeting LGBTQ people as “mentally ill,” and content advocating for the exclusion of women and trans people from military, law enforcement, and teaching jobs. These changes are in addition to news this morning that Meta will end its fact-checking program.

Zuckerberg’s removal of fact-checking programs and industry-standard hate speech policies make Meta’s platforms unsafe places for users and advertisers alike. Without these necessary hate speech and other policies, Meta is giving the green light for people to target LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanizing narratives. With these changes, Meta is continuing to normalize anti-LGBTQ hatred for profit — at the expense of its users and true freedom of expression. Fact-checking and hate speech policies protect free speech. https://lnkd.in/eCKpqRW2

NEW: Meta’s Instagram blocked teens from searching LGBTQ-related content for months. Taylor Lorenz reports that Meta was categorizing dozens of LGBTQ hashtags, including #Lesbian, #Bisexual, and #Trans, as “sensitive content.”  Meta now says it has reversed the restrictions after User Mag reached out for comment, saying that it was in error. Last year, as part of its “Teen Accounts,” Meta introduced new “sensitive content” restrictions across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. “We will start to hide more types of content for teens on Instagram and Facebook,” the company said at the time. "For many LGBTQ people, especially youth, platforms like Instagram are crucial for self-discovery, community building, and accessing supportive information," said GLAAD social media safety program manager Leanna Garfield. "Meta categorizing LGBTQ hashtags as ‘sensitive content’ … should concern everyone." Read more: https://lnkd.in/d8w8G4bT

🌟🎉 Happy New Year from all of us at GLAAD! 🎉🌟 As we welcome a new year, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and brilliance of the LGBTQ community and our allies.