LGBTQ+ Meta staff reportedly taking time off for ‘mental illness’ after hate speech policy change
Meta allows users to call LGBTQ+ folks mentally ill after removing fact checkers and moderation. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
LGBTQ+ Meta employees are reportedly calling themselves mentally ill and taking time off of work following the company’s hate speech policy change.
Meta’s decision to allow users to comment that LGBTQ+ people have “mental illness” has sparked backlash from the company’s queer employees.
On Tuesday (7 January) Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads – announced a raft of changes to the company’s content policy.
Included in the changes is the removal of independent fact checkers and moderation, meaning means social media users can call LGBTQ+ folks mentally ill because of their sexuality and gender identity.
“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 revised Meta hate speech guidelines state.
Reporting by 404 Media reveals that Meta staff are taking time off work to protest the policy changes.
One employee wrote on Meta’s internal platform, Workplace: “I am LGBT and mentally ill. Just to let you know that I’ll be taking time out to look after my mental health,” as reported by 404 Media.”
The co-chair Meta’s Oversight Board, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has said she and others are “very concerned” by the company’s decision to drop independent fact checkers and moderation, citing the potential impacts on minority groups.
“We’re very concerned about gender rights, LGBTQ+ rights, trans people’s rights on the platforms because we are seeing many instances where hate speech can lead to real-life harm, so we will be watching that space very carefully,” she told BBC’s Today programme.
Zuckerberg has said the changes aim to “get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms”.
Many people critical of the change, however, have noted the revised polices come just a few weeks ahead of president-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House for a second term.
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