Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced hell be loosening restrictions on its fact-checking systems on Threads, Instagram, and Facebook, instead opting for a community-driven notes system.Zuckerberg told the press that hes also planning to loosen content moderation policies, especially those around political topics. Related Meta caught censoring LGBTQ+ content & says it was mistakenly restricted The company reversed the restrictions after a journalist asked about them. Were going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms, Zuckerberg said in his announcement. More specifically, heres what were going to do. First, were going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the U.S. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today He criticized governments and legacy media for pushing to censor more and more. He said he was inspired by the 2024 presidential election. Zuckerberg has been making moves to meet with Donald Trump to discuss policy, and he has committed to donating $1 million to the president-elects inauguration fund.The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech, Zuckerberg said, adding that content moderation policies will still be aggressive in regulating drugs, terrorism, and child exploitation.We built a lot of complex systems to moderate content, but the problem with complex systems is they make mistakes. Even if they accidentally censor just 1% of posts, thats millions of people, and weve reached a point where its just too many mistakes and too much censorship. Civil rights leaders are criticizing Zuckerbergs move as enabling far-right ideology. Recently, Meta has been caught censoring content with LGBTQ+ hashtags, restricting it from millions of people, including every minor on the site. When a journalist reached out to them for comment, they said it was a mistake and reversed the policy.GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said of the recent announcement: Zuckerbergs removal of fact-checking programs and industry-standard hate speech policies make Metas platforms unsafe places for users and advertisers alike. Without these necessary hate speech and other policies, Meta is giving the green light for people to target LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanizing narratives. With these changes, Meta is continuing to normalize anti-LGBTQ hatred for profit at the expense of its users and true freedom of expression. Fact-checking and hate speech policies protect free speech.GLAAD pointed out in apress releasehow Meta explicitly allows for the promotion of banning transgender people from teaching and the military and additionally allows for the promotion of exclusion in restrooms.Additionally, Meta uses the word transgenderism in describing how it allows for political and religious discourse that claims LGBTQ+ people are mentally ill.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.