Meta Lets Users Call LGBTQ People ‘Mentally Ill’
announced the change on January 7, noting that it was eliminating its third-party fact-checking system and replacing it with a user-based “Community Notes” model similar to the one employed by X.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg further announced the company would be relocating its content moderation teams from California to Texas to “help remove the concern that biased employees are overly censoring content.”All of it is being done in the name of promoting “free expression,” with Meta kowtowing to right-wing MAGA critics who claim the platform has limited the visibility of posts from conservatives or and has censored “free speech” as it pertains to religious or social issues, such as users who refuse to recognize transgender identity as valid.Perhaps most appallingly, Meta has updated its “Hateful Conduct” policy to allow the use of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and offensive terms, according to The Verge.In its revised policy, Meta defines prohibited “hateful conduct” as direct attacks against people — rather than concepts or institutions — on the basis of protected characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or affliction with a serious disease.It also considers age a protected characteristic when referenced along with another protected characteristic.However, it appears to have carved out a host of exemptions that will specifically allow certain types of hate-based speech directed at LGBTQ individuals on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.For example, Meta claims that it prohibits “calls for exclusion or segregation when targeting people based on protected characteristics.” However, it will allow users to argue in favor of excluding LGBTQ individuals from certain careers or public spaces.Instances of this include occasions when an organization refuses to hire — or fires — an LGBTQ person due to an employer’s sincerely held religious beliefs opposing homosexuality.Additionally, Meta.
