Concerns Over Social Media Policy Shift: Royal Commission Raises Alarms on Hate Speech A major shift in social media policy has sparked fears of increased hate speech, with a royal commission into antisemitism warning of the potential consequences. In a move aimed at reducing censorship, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced a new approach in January 2025, which would rely on users to report less serious breaches, rather than proactively tackling them. The decision, made in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election in the US, has raised eyebrows among experts, who fear that it may lead to a surge in hate speech and other forms of online abuse. The royal commission, which is tasked with investigating antisemitism in Australia, has now weighed in on the issue, expressing concerns that the policy change may ultimately harm the very communities it is intended to protect.
‘Over-enforcement poses significant risk to the communities that we try to protect,’ royal commission told A decision aimed at reducing “censorship” on major social media sites including Facebook and Instagram potentially led to greater levels of hate speech, the royal commission into antisemitism has heard.Meta announced in January 2025, after the re-election of Donald Trump in the US, that it would “reduce censorship”, get rid of factcheckers and only tackle illegal and very serious violations proactively, relying on users to report less serious breaches. Its platforms include Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Continue reading...
