Sources: many of Meta's employees are furious about its moderation changes allowing “allegations of mental illness” when based on “gender or sexual orientation”
See Substack as another illustration [embedded post] Olivier Simard-Casanova / @o.simardcasanova.net : While I don't dispute that there's a contingent of fascists in the Silicon Valley, Meta is so big that it probably needs a workforce so large that there isn't enough fascists to work for them — How do you attract non-fascists people when you openly admit that you're fine hosting hate speech? Olivier Simard-Casanova / @o.simardcasanova.net : The problem for Meta is that once you openly sided with the far right and declared open season on LGBTQ people, women, and immigrants, it'll be very hard to return to the previous equilibrium — It'll affect the choices of users, but also workers [embedded post] @mutual-a : one of the most notable things about tech worker organizing is that it is frequently motivated by *moral* concerns about what the company *does* bc they fail to live up to the values that the company purports — arxiv.org/pdf/2307.15790 [embedded post] Gillian Branstetter / @gbbranstetter : Calling into work gay [embedded post] Sam Cole / @samleecole : in trying to kiss trump's ass, zuck has pissed so many employees off that they're considering mass resignation www.404media.co/its-total-ch... Alejandra Caraballo / @esqueer.net : Meta is now completely censoring searches for the terms “trans” and “transgender” etc. on Threads. — So much for free speech and free expression. [images] @thewanderingjew : Was there a specific policy before that you were not allowed to call people mentally ill? Facebook never seemed like it would clean up that kind of hatred. [embedded post] Jason Koebler / @jasonkoebler : From an internal thread about the change: [image] Jason Koebler / @jasonkoebler : New: Meta employees are furious about a new policy that allows users to call LGBTQ+ people “mentally ill.” Some have resigned in protest. Some LGBTQ+ employees have started saying they if they are ‘mentally ill’ they should get leave of absences from work — www.404media.co/its-total-ch... Dave Willner / @dwillner : Instead, these below-the-fold changes are very clearly designed to avoid having to penalize people like Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene for the increasingly dehumanizing language they use against these specific groups. You can tell because of the changes they *didn't* make. 🧵 9/11 Dave Willner / @dwillner : Folks are mostly missing the forest for the trees re: the recent Meta announcement. Specifically, the focus on the move from fact checking to community notes. There two different changes that are a much bigger deal that have received less focus. 🧵 1/11 Dave Willner / @dwillner : So, for example, you still cannot call all members of a specific religion mentally ill. I can't come up with a reason for that difference other than the fact that it would be frequently applied to Evangelicals and also isn't (currently) a meme on the American Right. 🧵 10/11 Dave Willner / @dwillner : Another obvious tell is the awkward inclusion of the specific term “transgenderism” (a rightwing shibboleth) into the policy language itself. — TL;DR - the fact checking drama is mostly a distraction from a much more grim set of changes. 🧵 11/11 Eliot Higgins / @eliothiggins : My personal opinion is this is at least partly fuelled by a fundamental error in the approach in the counter-disinformation on focusing on foreign actors rather than treating information disorder as a societal issue. An extensive piece on that to come. [embedded post] Will Oremus / @willoremus.com : What to do about it is an extremely hard question. Anyone offering simple fixes is probably a grifter. That's the part of the critique of the “misinformation industrial complex” I think is valid. — But the viral spread of lies tailored to each user's basest instincts and biases is real & corrosive. Mastodon: Bastian Greshake Tzovaras / @gedankenstuecke … : «Zuckerberg posted that “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.” — This is notably ironic considering that Zuckerberg's move, given Meta's already messy enforcement regime … Aral Balkan / @aral@mastodon.ar.al : You EITHER federate with Meta/Threads and have them be a partner in your Social Web Foundation OR you support LGBTQ+ people and human rights for all. — You can't do both. — Not after this. — The fact that we even have to fucking try to convince you to do the right thing is disgusting. … Threads: Parker Molloy / @parkermolloy : Looks like things aren't going over... uh, well, over at Meta https://www.404media.co/... Aaron Rupar / @aaron.rupar : Markwayne Mullin says Mark Zuckerberg reached out to him to ask if they can “get in the cage and fight” and “spar” together. He also says Zuckerberg spoke with Trump about Meta's new moderation policies just before they were announced. X: Zaid Jilani / @zaidjilani : Why are they fixated on controlling what free people can say? You can vehemently disagree with someone's speech but believe they have a right to expression. Stephen L. Miller / @redsteeze : There's the door. LinkedIn: Race Bannon : I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I know lots of people who work for Facebook. Those I've talked to are livid over this. … Forums: r/transgender : 'It's Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now': Employees Protest Zuckerberg's Anti LGBTQ Changes r/LGBTnews : 'It's Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now': Employees Protest Zuckerberg's Anti LGBTQ Changes. Meta's decision to specifically allow users … r/AnythingGoesNews : 'It's Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now': Employees Protest Zuckerberg's Anti LGBTQ Changes | … r/technology : 'It's Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now': Employees Protest Zuckerberg's Anti LGBTQ Changes. Meta's decision to specifically allow users … Chobeat To / Beehaw : 'It's Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now': Employees Protest Zuckerberg's Anti LGBTQ Changes