Threats Against Politicians Surge After Meta Speech Rule Changes
Original: Threats Against Politicians Skyrocketed After Meta Changed Its Speech Rules
Why This Matters
Highlights potential consequences of reduced content moderation on major social platforms
New research shows violent threats against US lawmakers including President Trump more than doubled on Facebook in six months after Meta relaxed content moderation rules in 2025, with hate speech comments quadrupling from 6,900 to 30,000.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate analyzed 8 million Facebook comments from posts by 100 House Representatives with the most followers. Researchers found abusive and racist comments targeting both Republican and Democrat lawmakers tripled after Meta's policy changes. Violent threats quadrupled from 1,800 to 7,600 comments, while hate speech increased from 6,900 to 30,000. Comments violating bullying and harassment rules doubled from 15,700 to 39,900. The study documented specific examples of gendered and racist abuse against Representatives Jasmine Crockette and Byron Daniels that weren't removed by Meta. Many threatening comments against Trump could constitute felony offenses, researchers noted. Meta spokesperson disputed the findings, stating hateful conduct prevalence didn't increase throughout 2025, though many cited examples were deleted hours before publication.