Meta hate speech update allows LGBTQ+ people to be described as ‘mentally ill’ and ‘freaks’

The removal of independent fact checkers and moderation by Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads – recently announced by Mark Zuckerberg, means social media users can call LGBTQ+ folks mentally ill because of their sexuality and gender identity.

On Tuesday (7 January) Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced a raft of changes to the company’s policies. The changes will see Meta no longer moderate “divisive” issues, like immigration and gender, and end its independent fact checking programme by moving to a community notes system similar to what is seen on Elon Musk’s platform, X.

Revised Meta hate speech guidelines following the announcement make it clear that social media users will be able to call LGBTQ+ mentally ill, simply because they are LGBTQ+.

“We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird’,” the loosened guidelines read.

Also removed is a prohibition on claiming that there is “no such thing” as a trans or gay person, reports The Independent. Another major change in the same section is the removal of rules that users couldn’t call protected groups “freaks” or “abnormal.”

Being LGBTQ+ has long been declassified as a mental illness or disorder. Homosexuality was removed from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1974 whilst in 2013, in the fifth edition of the DSM, “gender identity disorder” was replaced with “gender dysphoria”.

Similarly, in 2018 the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it would stop classifying trans people as mentally ill on the simple basis they are trans, explicitly stating that being trans is “not actually a mental health condition.”

Commenting on the wider changes to the platform in a video, Zuckerberg said: “We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.

“More specifically, here’s what we’re going to do. First, we’re going to get rid of fact checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the U.S.”

Community notes on X rely on social media users themselves, rather than the platform’s staff, to add context to certain posts to combat misinformation. The system is not totally successful and in October 2024 The Washington Post published a report which suggested community notes had largely failed to address misinformation in the app.

Zuckerberg went on to say the change was in the interests of “restoring free expression”, alleging third-party moderators are “too politically biased” and “governments and legacy media” are pushing “to censor more and more.”

Critics have noted the changes come just mere weeks before president-elect Donald Trump takes office for a second term, with Zuckerberg and other tech executives accused of attempting to woo the “free speech” stalwart who has frequently accused platforms of censoring his and other conservative voices – despite evidence to the contrary.

Meta ‘normalizing anti-LGBTQ hatred for profit’

Full Fact, a fact-checking charity which has been part of Meta’s third-party fact-checking programme since 2019, said in a statement provided to the Press Gazette that Meta’s decision is “disappointing and a backwards step that risks a chilling effect around the world.”

Chief executive of Full Fact, Chris Morris, said: “From safeguarding elections to protecting public health to dissipating potential unrest on the streets, fact checkers are first responders in the information environment.

“Our specialists are trained to work in a way that promotes credible evidence and prioritises tackling harmful information – we believe the public has a right to access our expertise.”

Morris went on to say Full Fact “absolutely refute” Meta’s allegations of bias by fact checkers, stating they are “strictly impartial” and fact check claims from all sides of the political sphere are handled with “equal rigour”.

“Like Meta, fact checkers are committed to promoting free speech based on good information without resorting to censorship. But locking fact checkers out of the conversation won’t help society to turn the tide on rapidly rising misinformation,” Morris said.

“Misinformation doesn’t respect borders, so European fact checkers will be closely examining this development to understand what it means for our shared information environment.”

GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis also hit back at Meta’s change in policies, saying they give “the green light for people to target LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, and other marginalised groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanising narratives”.

“With these changes, Meta is continuing to normalise 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,” Ellis added.