Meta’s New Moderation Policies Allow Accusations of Mental Illness Against LGBTQ Individuals
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, has made significant changes to its moderation policies and practices, allowing users to accuse people of being mentally ill based on their sexuality or gender identity. The company’s new guidelines prohibit insults about someone’s intellect or mental illness, but include a caveat for accusing LGBTQ individuals of being mentally ill due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The revised guidelines state that allegations of mental illness or abnormality are allowed when based on gender or sexual orientation, citing “common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird'” and “political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality.” This change has been met with criticism from GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy group, which argues that the policy change will allow for the targeting of marginalized groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanizing narratives.
The changes to Meta’s moderation policies are part of a broader overhaul of its online speech moderation practices. The company has replaced its fact-checking program with a community-driven system, and has removed rules that prohibited insults about a person’s appearance based on race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease.
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis has denounced the changes, stating that they will normalize anti-LGBTQ hatred and put marginalized groups at risk. Meta has not commented on the changes, but the company has announced that it will be joining the board of UFC’s Dana White, a longtime Trump supporter.