Campaigners fear spike in hate speech as Meta lifts restrictions

Meta on Jan 7, 2025, slashed its content moderation policies, including ending its US fact-checking programme, in a major shift that conforms with the priorities of incoming president Donald Trump. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Tech giant Meta has rolled back restrictions around topics such as gender and sexual identity, a sweeping move advocacy groups fear will fuel hate speech.

The change coincides with the company’s shock announcement on Jan 7 that it was ending its third-party fact-checking programme in the United States and adopting a crowd-sourced model to police misinformation similar to the Elon Musk-owned X.