Meta's instagram has been blocking LGBTQ-related hashtags for months. <a target="_blank" data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="https://www.usermag.co/p/instagram-blocked-teens-from-searching” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:according to reporting by User Mag;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>according to reports from User Magazine. This was done under the company's “sensitive content” policy as an attempt to restrict “sexually suggestive content.” The blocked hashtags included things like #lesbian, #gay, #bisexualpride, #transwomen and dozens more. Those hashtags don't seem that sexually suggestive to me but hey, what do I know.
The terms were hidden from both search and discovery for any user who had their sensitive content filter turned on. Teenage users have that filter turned on by default. When teens attempted to search for these terms, they were directed to a blank page and a Meta message to review the company's “sensitive content” restrictions that obscure “sexually explicit” posts.
User Magazines The reports caused Meta to change course on these restrictions, after having been in place for months. The company called it a simple mistake, saying that “it's important to us that all communities feel safe and welcome on Meta Apps, and we don't consider LGBTQ+ terms to be sensitive under our policies.”
The restrictions came after the company began hiding topics from teens as part of a broader “youth and wellness” privacy update. This was advertised as an effort to keep children away from content that promoted self-harm. It's worth noting that heterosexual content, even that showing couples engaging in romantic activities, was not restricted in any way, according to User Magazine.
“A responsible and inclusive company would not create an algorithm that classifies some LGBTQ hashtags as 'sensitive content,' by default hiding useful and age-appropriate content from young people,” a GLAAD spokesperson said. LGBTQ creators have long suffered from instagram's content policies, <a target="_blank" data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="https://www.advocate.com/business/instagram-shadowbanning-lgbtq-content” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:often experiencing shadow bans;cpos:3;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>often experiences shadow bans and <a target="_blank" data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/08/instagram-shadow-bans-marginalised-communities-queer-plus-sized-bodies-sexually-suggestive” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:having their content labeled;cpos:4;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>have your content tagged as “not recommended”.
While Meta says it was all a big misunderstanding and promises to get to the bottom of things, this is just one example of the company throwing marginalized communities under the bus. The company just changed their “Hate Content” policyadding language that apparently allows people to blatantly attack gay and trans people. The company says it is now OK to publish “allegations of mental illness or abnormality based on gender or sexual orientation, given the political and religious discourse around transgenderism and homosexuality.” It is worth noting that the word “transgenderism” It's been used for a long time by bad actors. intentionally misrepresent trans identities as an ideology.
This is part of a larger effort by Meta to become more like the notoriously prosperous social media empire online rhetoric. could “promote offline violence.”
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WATCH: “Let's get rid of the fact-checkers…”
In what almost seems like a hostage video, Zuckerberg completely bows down to Trump: removing facebook's fact-checkers and moving the process to Texas under the guise of protecting free speech. <a target="_blank" href="https://t.co/Ox0jeqBDBZ" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:pic.twitter.com/Ox0jeqBDBZ;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>pic.twitter.com/Ox0jeqBDBZ
– The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1876637017024671958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:January 7, 2025;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>January 7, 2025
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also been reaching out to Donald Trump. He's been busy pumping money into Trump's inauguration fund, flying to Mar-a-Lago for talks, replacing former Meta policy chief Nick Clegg with a former George W. Bush aide and appointing UFC CEO (and Trump promoter) Dana White to the company's board of directors.
Zuckerberg even went so far as to explicitly state that many of the above changes were made because Donald Trump won the presidential election, calling it “a cultural turning point.” He also called third-party fact-checkers “too politically biased” and suggested that many of Europe's hate speech laws promoted censorship and made it “difficult to build anything innovative there.” Do you remember when he was going to fight Elon Musk? It looks like Zuckerberg just lost by submission to our new first friend without even entering the ring.
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