Meta’s new content moderation is a step in the right direction: CEI analysis

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced major changes to its content moderation system today. The company says it aims to allow as much speech as possible while focusing moderation efforts on illegal material. Director of CEI’s Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin praises the decision by Meta.

“Meta’s announcement of a course correction on how they moderate content is a step in the right direction. Balancing the removal of illegal or vile materials with allowing as much speech as possible on platforms of this size is difficult – and will likely never be perfect. But the timing of this shift suggests that government pressure, or ‘jawboning,’ was a major factor in many of the content moderation decisions that have frustrated the political right. Time will tell if these changes strike the right balance for users and advertisers. In the meantime, government should restrict its involvement to only criminal matters.”