Meta updates allow users to call LGBT+ people mentally ill on Facebook and Instagram
"We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation"
By Gary Grimes
Social media giant Meta has updated its user guidelines around hate speech to now allow users to say that someone is mentally ill based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
In a video announcement posted earlier this week, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg explained: “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritising speech.”
The new guidelines still prohibit users from insulting each other based on their mental health except for in instances related to sexuality and gender identity.
The updated guidelines state: “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’.”
“This is a slippery slope and will undoubtedly have real world consequences at a time when minority rights, including LGBTQ+ rights, are already under threat”
In response to the updated guidelines, Stonewall chief executive Simon Blake spoke to Sky News saying: “Online hate and disinformation damages how society views and treats marginalised groups, and undermines societal cohesion.
“Meta’s approach puts politics above people when many are already concerned about the toxicity of online discourse, risking furthering division instead of fostering community.”
He continued to say that he is “deeply troubled Meta is rolling back policies designed to protect people using their platforms”.
“This is a slippery slope and will undoubtedly have real world consequences at a time when minority rights, including LGBTQ+ rights, are already under threat,” said Blake.
Mark Zuckerberg is removing fact-checking from Meta. 👀
— Ryan Shead (@RyanShead) January 7, 2025
I hope most rational people are asking themselves why removing fact-checking is necessary for free speech and expression.
Only liars and con-artists don’t like being fact-checked. pic.twitter.com/RuER0Yhpt5
The update follows news that the company would scrap the use of third party fact checkers, pivoting instead to a community notes-based solution similar to what is in place at X.
The update also sees the company abandon rules which forbid insults based on a person’s race, ethnicity, disability, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, religious affiliation and serious disease.
Referring to a transgender or nonbinary person as ‘it’ is also now allowed under the new guidelines, as are expressions of hate against a person or a group based on their protected class.