This last week, Mark Zuckerberg launched a sweeping overhaul of policies at Meta, affecting various aspects from diversity efforts at Facebook to political content guidelines on Instagram and Threads. He concluded the week with a nearly three-hour dialogue on *The Joe Rogan Experience* podcast, an action that some critics characterize as a strategic move to resonate with evolving political landscapes in the U.S. Zuckerberg appears to embrace such conjecture: just last month, he contributed $1 million to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund. In the podcast, he conveyed a positive outlook regarding president-elect Trump, declaring, “He just wants America to win.”
With numerous developments at Meta, even the most passionate observers of Zuckerberg’s moves may have overlooked some of the firm’s significant choices. Below is a summary of the major transformations enacted by one of the globe’s most prominent tech figures, just prior to Trump taking office.
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### Fact-Checkers Discontinued
Zuckerberg has mirrored Elon Musk’s actions at X (formerly Twitter) by doing away with fact-checkers in favor of community notes. On Tuesday, he revealed that Meta would revert to its “roots around free expression” by streamlining policies and concentrating on minimizing mistakes. This decision faced considerable pushback from civil rights and human rights organizations. Nora Benavidez, Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, criticized the decision, stating, “Content moderation has never been a tool to repress free speech; it is a principle that platforms developed to foster dialogue and safeguard truth for users.”
During Rogan’s podcast, Zuckerberg justified the change, asserting that the fact-checkers utilized by Meta were “too biased” and compared the system to something reminiscent of *1984*. The reference to George Orwell’s dystopian narrative, authored by a democratic socialist, raised eyebrows, with numerous individuals questioning whether Zuckerberg has genuinely read the book.
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### Loosened Hate Speech Regulations
Meta has also eased its restrictions concerning various forms of hate speech across its platforms. According to the revamped guidelines, users are allowed to share content that dehumanizes women, refers to particular racial groups as “filth,” and perpetuates negative stereotypes about LGBTQ+ individuals, including assertions that homosexuality constitutes a mental disorder—despite the American Psychiatric Association debunking this notion 52 years ago. Posts that equate protected characteristics such as race, gender, and sexual orientation with inanimate objects or ailments will also be allowed.
While Meta maintains it will still impose certain regulations against slurs and violence, critics contend that this alteration paves the way for more damaging discourse. A spokesperson informed CNN that the company will continue to uphold its bullying and harassment policies but recognized the shift in its content moderation approach.
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### DEI Programs Discontinued
Meta has opted to dissolve its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, per an internal memo sourced by Axios. The memo, authored by Janelle Gale, Meta’s Vice President of Human Resources, indicated that while the company will still strive to cultivate “cognitively diverse teams,” it will no longer provide equity and inclusion training. Moreover, Meta has abolished its Chief Diversity Officer position, ceased diversity hiring objectives, and discontinued the prioritization of minority-owned businesses in vendor hiring processes.
The memo referenced recent Supreme Court rulings as a contributing factor to this decision, noting that the legal framework surrounding DEI initiatives in the U.S. is shifting. It also acknowledged that the term “DEI” has become loaded with political implications, with certain interpretations suggesting it promotes preferential treatment for specific groups.
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### Tampons Taken Out of Men’s Bathrooms
In yet another controversial decision, Meta has directed facilities managers to eliminate tampons from men’s restrooms in its offices located in California, Texas, and New York. These items were previously provisioned for nonbinary and transgender staff. Critics, including tech journalist Katie Notopoulos, have termed this a blatant act of virtue signaling. “Probably only ever used by a handful of employees, but work for the facilities team to have to remove,” she commented on Bluesky. “It took physical labor and coordination across three offices to do this.”
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### Discontinuation of Trans and Nonbinary Messenger Themes
Meta has also removed trans and nonbinary-themed chat designs from its Messenger application. These designs, which allowed users to adorn chats with the colors of the trans or nonbinary pride flags, were subtly turned off. Observers have struggled to comprehend the reasoning behind this decision aside from its alignment with Meta’s broader rollback of support for LGBTQ+ issues.
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### Political Content Reintroduced to Instagram and Threads
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram and Threads, declared on Thursday that political content recommendations would be reinstated on both platforms. Users will have the option to modify their exposure to political content—selecting between “less,” “standard,” and “more”—but the default setting will be “standard.” This marks a significant reversal from Meta’s March 2024 decision to distance itself from political topics.
While some users welcome the resurgence of political discussion, others have raised concerns regarding the appropriateness of the timing,