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Meta's revised take on censorship: What it means for brands & creators

Meta recently updated its community guidelines to make the platform more user-friendly; however, this may impact brands as well as creators, say experts. 

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Nisha Qureshi
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Mark Zuckerberg recently announced significant changes to Meta’s content moderation approach in the United States. The social media giant revised its content policies around controversial topics such as immigration and gender identity. The new changes are a part of Meta's broader changes around how it moderates online speech on its platforms. These changes include scrapping its fact-checking partnership programme favouring a community-driven approach like X did in 2022 after Elon Musk took over the platform.

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While announcing these changes, Zuckerberg said that the platform aims to make it simpler for people to express their opinions. The company plans to adjust its content moderation filters to require a higher confidence level before removing posts, which aims to reduce instances of mistaken censorship.

It's time to get back to our roots around free expression. We're replacing fact checkers with Community Notes, simplifying our policies and focusing on reducing mistakes. Looking forward to this next chapter,” Zuckerberg said. 

Experts suggest that the impact of these changes, currently limited to the US, could extend globally. In 2022, X (formerly Twitter) implemented similar changes such as community-driven approach and toning down on censorship, several brands abandoned the platform due to perceived brand safety. The tension between Musk's free speech agenda and advertisers' desire for safe content created an ideological rift.  In August 2024, X filed a lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and several major corporations, alleging  advertisers conspired to withhold 'billions of dollars' in advertising revenue from X,

With Meta taking a similar approach, what does this mean for Meta’s Facebook and Instagram now?  

Brands to stay away from news content on social media

According to Sajal Gupta, CEO of Kiaos Marketing, social media trends rarely confine to one region. He says social media, by its nature, transcends borders.

“Given this reality, advertisers will likely stay away from news and opinion-oriented content. Advertisers may increasingly add such content to their negative lists. For such platforms, this could lead to reduced monetisation compared to other content types.”  

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Brand safety concerns

Rohit Sakunia, founder and director, ArtE Mediatech, says that this situation can be a double-edged sword for brands.

“On the one side, it encourages open dialogue, but on the other, it poses significant risks to their carefully crafted reputations. A zero- or less-regulated space can quickly become a minefield, where divisive, offensive, or harmful content flourishes.” 

He adds that social media, as it is, isn’t the sanitised space many thought or hoped it would be. For brands, it may get tricky. They have to operate in an ecosystem where toxicity moves faster than their amazing creative campaigns.  

Impact on creators and users

 People sometimes use sex- or gender-exclusive language when discussing access to spaces often limited by sex or gender, such as access to bathrooms, specific schools, specific military, law enforcement or teaching roles, and health or support groups. Other times, they call for exclusion or use insulting language in the context of discussing political or religious topics, such as when discussing transgender rights, immigration or homosexuality. Finally, sometimes people curse at a gender in the context of a romantic break-up. Our policies are designed to allow room for these types of speech- Meta's revised guideline

Several social outfits have already expressed their outrage against the move.  

Naresh Gupta, co-founder of BangInTheMiddle, says that while brands might not immediately abandon the platform, they can’t ensure that it aligns with their brand values either. He emphasises that a greater concern is the impact it will have on individuals and creators.

“The bigger concern is whether consumers or potential customers will leave the platform. We observed a similar trend with Twitter, where users abandoned the platform, making it harder for brands to reach their target audience. A similar shift could occur here,” he adds.

According to him, the situation with influencer marketing is precarious. He says influencer marketing thrives on personal beliefs and speech. Without clear guidelines, influencers may either tone down their opinions or face trolling and follower loss. Many may leave the platform, affecting influencers and brands seeking them.

We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird’- Meta's revised guidelines

Global implications

Experts believe that while the revised guidelines are for the US, social media is borderless.

“Indian rules around digital and social media, as it is, tend to be vague and Meta has historically followed its US policies more than individual contries, the implications globally could be significant,” says Gupta. 

Meta's policy change arises amidst concerns that TikTok may be banned in the U.S. unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its assets to a non-Chinese entity. With around 170 million users in the U.S., a ban would significantly impact content creators and users who depend on the platform for communication and entertainment. Experts also suggest that these changes are politically motivated, aimed at appealing to a more prominent right-wing sentiment worldwide. Additionally, these policy changes coincide with Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, scheduled for January 20, 2025.

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