The start of 2025 brings big changes to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, the tech giant is making a series of changes that suggest a clear orientation to the American political right, in a context where Donald Trump is consolidating his position for the upcoming elections.
Goodbye, independent fact checking: Meta changes the rules
One of the most important changes is the abandonment of the third-party fact-checking program for Facebook and Instagram.
Instead of this system, Meta is implementing one similar to Community Notes used on X (formerly Twitter), where regular users will be able to add notes and corrections to posts.
Zuckerberg explained this decision in an Instagram video, suggesting that the current verifiers may have had a political bias (political partisanship).
The management of the company is transforming
The recent moves in the Meta board are just as significant. UFC CEO Dana White, known for his support of Trump, was named to the board.
At the same time, Nick Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister with centrist views, left the company. Joel Kaplan, a former member of the Bush administration and known for his conservative positions, took over the leadership of the policy department.
California vs. Texas: A move with implications
Zuckerberg announced that content moderation teams will be moved from California to Texas, a move reminiscent of Elon Musk. It has already moved its headquarters X to the same state.
The relocation is not just a geographic shift, but reflects a fundamental change in how Meta will approach content moderation and its internal policies.
Impact on users
The new direction could have significant consequences for the experience of those who use the Meta platforms on a daily basis.
According to several analysts, while these changes may worry liberal users, the company’s massive size and advertising power somewhat protect it from a potential exodus.
Meta: The Future of Content Moderation
Zuckerberg’s team will ease restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender, topics that are central to current US political discourse.
This change shows not only the new political orientation of the company, but also the reality that social platforms have become increasingly politicized and polarized, and what is considered misinformation can vary 360 degrees depending on the political perspective of the one who evaluates the content.
Meta (the company, not Mark Zuckerberg) a contributor with nearly 1 million euros to Trump’s inaugural fund. About two weeks ago, Zuckerberg had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where he gifted him with Ray-Ban Meta glasses with a video camera.
Source: www.go4it.ro
