Violent threats against US lawmakers surge after Meta rolled back content moderation policies
A watchdog report found that violent threats targeting US lawmakers quadrupled on Facebook after Meta eased content moderation safeguards in 2025, with harassment and abusive content also sharply increasing. Meta removed fact-checkers in January 2025 and shifted to a Community Notes model, changes widely seen as appeasing the Trump administration. The findings raise concerns about platform accountability as political violence has escalated in recent years.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) analyzed nearly eight million Facebook comments targeting 100 members of Congress over a six-month period before and after Meta's policy rollbacks in 2025. The report documented a quadrupling of violent threats including calls for murder, more than a doubling of harassment, and significant increases in racist and gendered abuse. Meta's changes included removing US fact-checkers in January 2025 in favor of a Community Notes model and rolling back speech restrictions on topics like gender and sexual identity. Meta disputed the findings, stating that "the prevalence of hateful conduct did not increase throughout 2025" and claiming it was not provided the report in advance. The timing coincides with a documented rise in threats against US political figures, including the 2025 shooting deaths of Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband in a politically motivated attack.
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Threats to US lawmakers spiked after Meta rolled back safeguards: Watchdog
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