In any case, the problems that social media poses for its users run much deeper than content moderation. Bigger concerns stem from how platforms disseminate content.

The need for such transparency has become more evident since Zuckerberg's announcement. Rather than use third-party fact-checkers to determine the accuracy of content on its platforms, the CEO said, Meta will adopt a system similar to X's Community Notes function, which crowdsources the work of debunking false claims. Meanwhile, the company will loosen its content filters to prioritize screening 'illegal and high-severity violations,' such as terrorism, child sexual exploitation and fraud.

Experience has shown that social media companies cannot effectively weed out all bad content on their platforms. This is not to say their efforts have been wasted, only that, even with multimillion-dollar investments, there is a limit to what can be done.

If Meta and other social media companies want to rebuild trust with their users, openness is essential. Though it has become less fashionable to acknowledge the good that social media can do, there was once much optimism that it would actually improve society. With transparency that reaches to the foundations of these platforms, such bright potential might be imaginable again.

As Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg continue to reshape the social media space, a group of international tech entrepreneurs and advocates has launched a campaign to protect social media from the control and influence of billionaires.

It's bad enough when leaders like 'Old Donald' and Musk, who are at least open about their authoritarian beliefs, tell their followers that it's okay to ignore facts and believe whatever feels emotionally satisfying. When someone like Zuckerberg — who has long presented as moderate or even liberal — says it,
it furthers this normalization of dishonesty.

The changes come as Meta and social media companies broadly have in recent years reversed course on content moderation due in part to the politicization of moderation decisions and programs. Republicans have long criticized Meta’s fact-checking system and fact-checking in general as unfair and favoring Democrats — a claim that is in dispute.

Only it’s not so simple. Deleting fewer posts and banning fewer accounts might help social media companies argue that they’re re-committing to free speech, but as POLITICO’s Digital Future Daily pointed out today, they’re still operating with complex, shadowy algorithms that prioritize certain kinds of content over others. The presence or absence of Censorship has little to do with what people are actually seeing when they log onto Facebook, where the lgorithm remains king

In the U.S., Telegram provided police with 108 user IP addresses or phone numbers in connection to 14 cases during the first nine months of 2024, according to the company’s quarterly transparency reports. In the fourth quarter of the year, Telegram provided U.S. agencies with IP addresses or phone numbers for 2,145 users stemming from 900 law enforcement requests.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Political Evolution, From Apologies to No More Apologies

Mr. Zuckerberg has remolded Meta as he has made the shift. Gone is the CrowdTangle transparency tool, which allowed researchers, academics and journalists to monitor conspiracy theories and misinformation on Facebook. The company’s election integrity team, once trumpeted as a group of experts focused solely on issues around the vote, has been folded into a general integrity team.

AOC Grills Mark Zuckerberg About Facebook's Fact-Checking W/Layered

The changes come as Meta and social media companies broadly have in recent years reversed course on content moderation due in part to the politicization of moderation decisions and programs. Republicans have long criticized Meta’s fact-checking system and fact-checking in general as unfair and favoring Democrats — a claim that is in dispute.

Only it’s not so simple. Deleting fewer posts and banning fewer accounts might help social media companies argue that they’re re-committing to free speech, but as POLITICO’s Digital Future Daily pointed out today, they’re still operating with complex, shadowy algorithms that prioritize certain kinds of content over others. The presence or absence of Censorship has little to do with what people are actually seeing when they log onto Facebook, where the lgorithm remains king

In the U.S., Telegram provided police with 108 user IP addresses or phone numbers in connection to 14 cases during the first nine months of 2024, according to the company’s quarterly transparency reports. In the fourth quarter of the year, Telegram provided U.S. agencies with IP addresses or phone numbers for 2,145 users stemming from 900 law enforcement requests.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted net neutrality rules under the Obama administration, revoked them under the 'Old Donald' administration, and reinstated them under President Joe Biden. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Advocates of net neutrality have long argued that such rules are necessary to keep internet service providers from abusing their power against consumers ' for instance, by slowing down access to certain websites or types of content. Opponents say that there is limited evidence that internet service providers choose to discriminate against content this way, and that heavier oversight would weigh on innovation.

With the reversal of net neutrality, the FCC retains broad Title II authority to regulate phone networks but has weaker authority over the separate ' but partially overlapping ' domain of internet networks.

Musk’s platform has lost 2.7 million active US users in two months, while its rival has gained 2.5 million

“There’s a lot of content being amplified that most reasonable people would question whether is worth amplifying”, he said, referring to Musk recently questioning the sentence given to the jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson. “Tommy Robinson is not some benign debater. He’s someone who wants to weaponise racist narratives and racist rhetoric. Let him have his space, I just don’t want to be there.”