Trans Activists Are Alarmed That Meta’s Hate Speech Concessions Signal a More Dangerous Shift

Since the November election Mark Zuckerberg has been firmly in Donald Trump’s corner, so it comes as no surprise that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, has quietly switched sides when it comes to anti-trans speech on its platforms.

Last week, the company’s Oversight Board upheld an earlier decision to allow anti-trans speech, such as the previously banned slur “tranny,” a move that rang alarm bells at GLAAD and among other LGBTQ activists and actors. (Under Elon Musk’s guidance, X removed protections around anti-trans language two years ago.)

In late April, the board reviewed rulings on two videos, one on Facebook in which a transgender woman is confronted for using the women’s bathroom at a university, which featured the caption “male student who thinks he’s a girl.”