Meta’s oversight board rebukes company over policy overhaul

23/4/2025 17:15

Meta Platforms' Oversight Board on Wednesday sharply rebuked the Facebook and Instagram owner over a policy overhaul in January that cut fact-checking and eased curbs on discussions of contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity.



The board, which operates independently but is funded by Meta, urged the world's biggest social media company to assess "potential adverse effects" of the changes, put in place just before U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term.



It cited concerns that Meta had announced the changes "hastily, in a departure from regular procedure, with no public information shared as to what, if any, prior human rights due diligence the company performed."



The announcement set the board on a possible collision course with Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who has been working this year to mend fences with Trump and roll back a decade's worth of initiatives aimed at mitigating harms like hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence on his company's services.