Taxpayer Watchdog Reacts to Meta’s New Content Moderation Policies

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224) 456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, January 7, Meta announced a large-scale overhaul to their content moderation practices. The company announced that it would transition from third-party fact checking to a community-sourced model. The company will also loosen restrictions on certain controversial topics and limit the use of automated moderation tools in some cases. In a video statement, Mark Zuckerberg said Meta’s new stance is designed to foster a more open environment of speech, as the company considers its previous approach was overly prescriptive.

This pivot highlights the important role that legal protections, such as the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, play in allowing tech companies to shape their products as they see fit.

In response, Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) President David Williams provided the following comment:

“Social media platforms take on the very difficult task of setting boundaries and shaping online interactions. Such a task requires continuous tinkering and experimentation. Meta, in the past, decided on a more stringent and top-down approach to content moderation. It made that decision, as is their right, because it thought that would be the best product for its userbase. However, after years of evaluating the results of this decision, Meta has now deemed that approach overly prescriptive and has decided to revamp its content moderation guidelines to prioritize free expression and community-based moderation. It has done so, again, because it believes that this new product is the best product it can offer.

“Such experimentation is only possible thanks to the broad protections offered by the Constitution and a light-touch regulatory environment, which allows social media companies to exercise their First Amendment right to content moderation without the threat of legal liability. As Zuckerberg accurately highlights, this light-touch regulatory environment has placed America ahead of foreign competitors whose governments have the power to restrict users’ and companies’ rights to free expression. The upcoming administration should prioritize such a light-touch regulatory approach and avoid the authoritarianism on display abroad.

“TPA sees Meta’s pivot as another example showing that America’s light-touch and pro-innovation approach to tech regulation is a resounding success.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.