Lgbtq+ speech
LGBTQ+ advocates alarmed by Meta's hateful conduct policy changes
Changes to Meta's hateful actions policy could lead to increased hate speech and real world safety concerns, according to a Queensland social media expert.
Social media giant Meta will now allow allegations of "mental illness" or "abnormality" based on gender or sexual orientation on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
It also will now allow women to be referred to as "household objects", and for content arguing in favour of "gender-based limitations of military, law enforcement, and teaching jobs".
Meta has justified the changes by saying its rules had turn into too restrictive and prone to over-enforcement.
Facebook to close fact checking and 'work with Trump' against censorship
Mark Zuckerberg says fact checkers have been "too politically biased" and that people notes similar to those on X will be rolled out to platforms such as Facebook.
"We're getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender culture and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate," it said in a statement
The Global Suppression of Online LGBTQ+ Speech Continues
A global raise in anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance is having a significant impact on digital rights. As we wrote last year, censorship of LGBTQ+ websites and online content is on the climb. For many Homosexual individuals the planet over, the internet can be a safer space for exploring identity, result community, and inquiring support. But with anti-LGBTQ+ bills restricting free expression and privacy to content moderation decisions that disproportionately impact Queer users, digital spaces that used to seem like protected havens are, for many, no longer so.
EFF's mission is to ensure that technology supports autonomy, justice, and innovation for all people of the earth, and that includes LGBTQ+ communities, which all too often face threats, censorship, and other risks when they proceed online. This Lgbtq+ fest month—and the recover of the year—we’re highlighting some of those risks, and what we’re doing to help transform online spaces for the better.
Worsening threats in the Americas
In the United States, where EFF is headquartered, recent gains in rights hold been followed by an uptick in intolerance that has led to legislative efforts, mostly at th
Meta's New Policies: How They Endanger LGBTQ+ Communities and Our Tips for Staying Safe Online
by Belle Torek •
On January 7, 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a complete overhaul of content policies across Meta platforms. These changes include the end of fact-checking, thinned-down moderation efforts, and a dismantled Hateful Conduct policy that expressly permits abuse against LGBTQ+ people while forbidding the same abuses against all other communities. In the following days, Meta has also announced the termination of its broader DEI efforts, further signaling an abdication from its engagement to inclusion. Here, we explain what these changes mean for the Homosexual community and offer paths forward, both on and off Meta platforms.
When Tag Zuckerberg announced sweeping changes to Meta’s content moderation policies, he framed the move as a bold defense of free speech. But many, especially members of the LGBTQ+ group and allies, worry about what this means for safety on Meta’s platforms and fear this marks an open invitation for Meta users to occupy in anti-LGBTQ+ abuse that will disempower and marginalize the community.
To better grasp the gravity
Around the World, Threats to LGBTQ+ Speech Deepen
Globally, an amplify in anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance is impacting individuals and communities both online and off. The digital rights community has observed an uptick in censorship of Homosexual websites as adv as troubling bids by several countries to pass explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ bills restricting freedom of verbalization and privacy—bills that also fuel offline intolerance against LGBTQI+ people, and violence LGBTQI+ individuals to self-censor their online expression to elude being profiled, harassed, doxxed, or criminally prosecuted.
LGBTQ+ researchers and advocates have also noted an increase in threats of violence and hate speech targeted at LGBTQ+ individuals and communities, ever increasingly with the intention of stifling trans rights and canceling queenly events. These orchestrated online campaigns—often fueled by the far right—have proliferated in connection with surge of bills attacking LGBTQ+ rights. In the U.S., a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and Human Rights Campaign tracked a 406% increase in tweets connecting LGBTQ+ communities to “grooming” in the month after the “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed in
Rose Saxe,
she/her,
Deputy Director, LGBT & HIV Project,
ACLU
As a gay person, I grew up knowing I was different. Hearing other kids call anyone who deviated from traditional gender expectations a “fag.” Getting called a “lesbo” at age 11. I hadn’t come out to anyone and didn’t even really understand what it meant, but I knew it was an insult.
At an early age, we learn that it’s at best different to be LGBT. And many of us are taught that this difference is bad — shameful, deviant, disgusting. We might experiment to hide it. We might wish it away. We learn that even if our family accepts us, there are some relatives who might not; we get asked to hide who we are so as not to make them uncomfortable.
This teaches shame.
We hear about LGBT people who have been physically attacked or even killed for being who they are.
This teaches fear.
While I know I grew up with privilege, and others have stories far worse than mine, I also believe that countless other LGBT people could tell stories like this — not the identical, but all rooted in a legacy that made us feel ashamed of who we are. And yet I, like many of us, also learned pride and hope and found a community tha