Meta rolls back hate speech rules as Zuckerberg cites 'recent elections' as a catalyst

It wasn’t just fact-checking that Meta scrapped from its platforms as it prepares for the second Trump administration. The social media giant has also loosened its rules around hate speech and abuse, specifically when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity as well as immigration status. The changes are worrying advocates for vulnerable groups, who say Meta’s decision to scale back content moderation could lead to real-word harms. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that the company will remove restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that he said are out of touch with mainstream discourse. He cited recent elections as a catalyst.