Meta Users Feel Less Safe Since It Weakened ‘Hateful Conduct’ Policy, Survey Finds.

During January 2025, following the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to remove the fact-checking system (checking the veracity of shared information), from company-owned platforms. Following this change, accompanied by other changes to Meta's policy, a campaign was called to shed light on the issues that arose as a result of this removal.

To investigate the impact on users of the affected platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, a survey was conducted, taking into account 7,000 users belonging to “groups characterized by protected characteristics,” as defined by Meta . The questions asked within the latter focused on the topic at hand, including “to what extent do you feel that Meta's new policy changes protect you and all users from exposure or targeting by harmful content?” and “have you been a victim of offensive content on a Meta platform since January 2025?”

According to the responses of the users involved, following the change in January, 66% of them witnessed offensive content and behavior, and 1 in 6 reported being a victim of gender-based or sexual violence on Meta platforms.