Top E&C Democrats Demand Answers from Meta for Dangerous New Policy Changes
“These policy changes, the timing of which gives the inescapable appearance of currying favor with the Trump Administration, are abhorrent, inconsistent, and dangerous.”
Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) wrote to Meta today demanding answers for the tech company’s sweeping new policy changes that eliminate third-party fact-checking, roll back content moderation, dismantle hate speech protections, and abolish initiatives intended to promote fairness, access, and inclusivity. Their letter comes the day after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with the White House to discuss the company’s tech leadership role.
“This time last year, you sat before Congress and apologized to grieving families who blame your platforms for exposing their children to sellers of illegal drugs, bullying, and other harmful content. You turned to the families and said, ‘I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,’” Pallone, Schakowsky, Matsui, and Clarke wrote to Zuckerberg. “But it is unclear what value those words hold now, as you revoke the content moderation protections meant to prevent such tragedies.”
The four Committee leaders explained that Meta’s recent policy changes represent a monumental step backward in the company’s ability and efforts to foster safe and truthful platforms. They specifically called out Meta’s rollback of important content moderation and fact-checking efforts, including the program Meta implemented after the 2016 presidential election led to concerns that the social media company was disseminating blatant and dangerous election misinformation.
Pallone, Schakowsky, Matsui, and Clarke also pointed to the fact Meta’s Oversight Board – which was created in 2018 to be an independent check on the company’s safety and fact-checking policies – was not consulted on these policy changes. In fact, multiple members of the Board have expressed serious concerns that Meta’s new system will undermine public trust and may lead to real-world harm.
“The removal of independent fact-checking will enable disinformation to flood Meta’s platforms once again. It is also unclear how Meta’s frequently promoted values of ‘Safety’ and ‘Authenticity’ and your stated priority of ‘creating an environment that fosters a productive dialogue’ are served if the platform is riddled with misinformation and disinformation,” the four Committee leaders wrote. “Fact-checking is not censorship. Allowing outright lies to perpetuate on Meta’s platforms will result in not only a less-safe, less-reliable, and less-productive user experience but also direct harm to Americans.”
They also underscored Meta’s disturbing new changes which erode its Hateful Conduct policies – policies that, prior to their announcement on January 7, had the stated goal of preventing hate speech because Meta said it ‘creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote offline violence.’ Meta’s revised policies now ‘allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation,’ which the four Committee leaders blasted as being wildly inconsistent with the company’s stated values.
The Members wrote they were particularly alarmed by reports that internal Meta training materials now confirm that language like ‘immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit’ and ‘gays are freaks’ no longer violate Meta’s policies.
“These vile sentiments appear to conflict with Meta’s current policy of removing ‘dehumanizing speech’ or ‘slurs.’ These policy changes, the timing of which gives the inescapable appearance of currying favor with the Trump Administration, are abhorrent, inconsistent, and dangerous. As such, Meta’s claim that it ‘doesn’t allow hateful conduct on Facebook, Instagram, or Threads’ is not just hollow, but patently untrue,” they concluded. “These recently announced policy changes threaten real harm to the well-being and safety of Meta’s users, and we are committed to holding Meta accountable for any harm that result from these changes.”
The Committee leaders asked Meta to provide a wide array of documents and data, as well as answers to a host of questions pertaining to the company’s decision-making process and plans for protecting users across all its platforms.
Full text of the letter is available HERE.
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