Meta rewrote the hashtag#HateSpeech section of the Community Guidelines for Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Explicit permissions now include insulting language in discussions on sensitive topics like transgender rights and immigration, while some restrictions, such as dehumanizing comparisons or calls for exclusion, have been removed.

>"Beyond these additions, another revealing change is the removal of bans on specific forms of hate speech. Thanks to Open Terms Archive history tracking, we know that the following content that was previously forbidden is now allowed on Instagram, Facebook and Threads starting on January 7:

>Calls for “sex or gender-based exclusion from spaces commonly limited by sex or gender, such as restrooms, sports and sports leagues, health and support groups, and specific schools.” "

This is not and never was hate speech.

Classy opinion there. I suppose, technically, Jim Crowe laws weren't hate speech either.

Quite a shift in rhetoric since Trump was elected. Meta will probably realize big savings from this — apparently they have (had) 40,000 fact checkers

More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42621627

This isn't just removing hate speech protections, it's explicitly allowing hateful speech only if it is directed towards certain groups.

https://transparency.meta.com/policies/community-standards/h...

> Do not post: [...]

> - Insults, including those about: [...]

> Mental characteristics, including but not limited to allegations of stupidity, intellectual capacity, and mental illness. [...] We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation

Under this policy, you aren't allowed to call someone mentally ill as an insult, unless it's because they're gay or trans.

If this were just removing protections, you would be able to call anyone mentally ill. Instead, this policy grants special protection to homophobic and transphobic speech.