‘Virtue signaling’: Zuckerberg responds to Facebook user exodus reports

SOME MEDIA REPORTS ARE SUGGESTING META’S NEW POLICIES ARE LEADING TO BOYCOTTS AND A POTENTIAL MASS EXODUS OFF FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM.

OTHER REPORTS SUGGEST META’S RECENT DECISIONS HAVE SENT GOOGLE SEARCHES TO “DELETE FACEBOOK” **SOARING.

BOTH OF THESE REPORTS – HAVE LIMITATIONS IN ITS DATA.

FOR THE REPORT ABOUT USERS SEARCHING “HOW TO DELETE FACEBOOK” WENT “SOARING” –

ITS RELIANT ON GOOGLE TREND DATA –

WHICH DOES **NOT OFFER ACTUAL “SEARCH VOLUME NUMBERS.”

WHICH MEANS WE DON’T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY SEARCHED HOW TO DELETE THEIR FACEBOOK.

AND NBC’S REPORT CITING USERS CALLING FOR A BOYCOTT –

RELIED ON NBC NEWS’ REVIEW OF WHAT IT CALLED “HUNDREDS OF POSTS AND COMMENTS”.

BUT THAT IS A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE COMPARED TO META’S OVER 3 BILLION ACTIVE USERS. 

META CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG RESPONDED ON INSTAGRAM’S MESSAGING APP “THREADS” TO THE IDEA PEOPLE WILL LEAVE OVER META’S NEW POLICIES.

SAYING “I’m counting on these changes actually making our platforms better. I think Community Notes will be more effective than fact-checkers, reducing the number of people whose accounts get mistakenly banned is good, people want to be able to discuss civic topics and make arguments that are in the mainstream of political discourse, etc. Some people may leave our platforms for virtue signaling, but I think the vast majority and many new users will find that these changes make the products better.”

ZUCKERBERG’S RECENT POLICY CHANGES AT META HAVE ALSO LED TO QUESTIONS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES OVER WHETHER THE RECENT CHANGES ALREADY IMPLEMENTED IN THE U.S. WILL SOON BE BROADLY IMPLEMENTED TO OTHER NATIONS.

THE CHANGES – INCLUDE AN END TO FACT-CHECKING – INSTEAD – OPTING FOR USERS TO ADD COMMUNITY NOTES TO POSTS.

AND IT ALSO LOOSENS RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN TOPICS PREVIOUSLY NOT OPEN FOR DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK OR INSTAGRAM – SUCH AS GENDER AND SEXUAL IDENTITY.

THESE CHANGES HAVE BEEN PRAISED BY CONSERVATIVES IN THEIR CALLS FOR REIGNING IN REGULATIONS OVER FREE SPEECH.

BUT THE CHANGES HAVE ALSO BEEN DENOUNCED BY SOME ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POLITICAL AISLE – AS THEY CAUTION IT COULD LEAD TO A SPREAD OF “DISINFORMATION”.

BRAZIL – A COUNTRY CURRENTLY WITH A LEFTIST GOVERNMENT UNDER PRESIDENT LULA DA SILVA –

ASKED META IF ITS NEWLY ANNOUNCED POLICIES WILL APPLY TO THEIR COUNTRY.

META RESPONDED THAT ITS FACT-CHECKING IS ONLY GOING AWAY IN THE U.S. – FOR NOW – AS THE COMPANY RUNS TESTS ON ITS “COMMUNITY NOTES” SYSTEM.

META CONFIRMED LOOSER RESTRICTIONS ON CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS SUCH AS DEBATING SEXUAL IDENTITIES – **WILL APPLY IN BRAZIL – TO ALLOW FOR “BROADER CONVERSATION ON TOPICS THAT ARE PART OF CURRENT DISCUSSIONS IN SOCIETY.”

BRAZIL’S ATTORNEY GENERAL AND OTHER LEADERS – UPSET OVER META’S DECISIONS –

DECIDED IT WOULD HOLD A HEARING TO DISCUSS THEIR NEXT STEPS –

AND WHETHER THE NEW POLICY VIOLATES THEIR “HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS”.

BRAZIL’S COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER SAYING – META’S NEW MEASURES “…violate fundamental rights and national sovereignty, promoting a digital Wild West.”

ZUCKERBERG HAS DEFENDED HIS DECISIONS.

SAYING – ITS FACT CHECKERS WERE POLITICALLY BIASED – AND LED TO “TOO MUCH CENSORSHIP.”

AND SAYS IT WILL CONTINUE TO REMOVE THREATS OR CONTENT THAT INCITES VIOLENCE.

THE DATE OF BRAZIL’S HEARING HAS NOT YET BEEN ANNOUNCED.

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