At Facebook and Instagram speech freedom is coming with ad restrictions. This is because advertisers fear that eliminating fact-checking on content opens the door to misinformation or offensive speech, and brands don’t want to appear near out-of-bounds content.
Reportedly, ad executives at Meta, the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram, reassured the ad community that they are committed to brand safety. This statement contradicts the position of Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg that fact-checkers “destroyed more trust than they have created.” On the other hand, advertisers are concerned that the new Meta’s content-moderation tool — based on community notes — would not be able to flag offensive content.
As stated by Zuckenberg, “the systems the company had created to moderate its platforms were making too many mistakes.”
Indeed, on October 31, 2024, Facebook removed a post about one of VideoAge‘s Water Cooler features. “We removed your post. It looks like you tried to get likes, follows, shares or video views in a misleading way,” was the message VideoAge received on its Facebook page after posting a feature article about the popularity of YouTube, titled “YouTube: The Awakened Giant.”
Zuckenberg also stated that the return of president Donald Trump to the White House created a “cultural topping point.” The controversy has made brand safety a highly politicized issue.
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