Racist comments targeting politicians tripled since Meta relaxed its rules
Summary
Meta changed its rules last year to allow more types of speech on its platforms, saying it had been too strict before. New research shows that since these changes, abusive and racist comments aimed at U.S. politicians have tripled, and violent threats have increased four times. The research found many harmful comments that Meta did not remove, including serious threats against President Trump.Key Facts
- Meta relaxed its content rules in 2025, aiming to allow more political debate and reduce censorship.
- Researchers analyzed about 8 million Facebook comments on posts by 100 U.S. House members with the most followers.
- Abusive and racist comments targeting politicians tripled in the six months after the new rules took effect.
- Violent threats and hate speech comments increased four times during the same period.
- Threats against President Trump more than doubled, some including potential criminal threats to his life.
- The rise in harmful comments corresponded with a roughly 50% drop in Meta’s proactive content enforcement efforts.
- Meta said hateful content did not increase in 2025, but did not directly address the new research findings.
- Lawmakers and researchers link reduced moderation to the increase in harmful and violent speech online.
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