Meta, Zuckerberg threaten human rights by allowing dehumanizing speech, advocates warn [Video]

Rights organizations are warning users of the threats posed by Meta’s decision to lift prohibitions against common discriminatory and hateful rhetoric on its platforms — a move that may ingratiate the tech giant with the incoming presidential administration, some claim.

Backtracking on years of digital safety work, the new policy no longer restricts users from language that would formally have been flagged as dehumanizing and pejorative, including likening protected characteristics — which includes “race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease” — to inanimate objects or property, filth, and diseases.

In a huge blow to protections for LGBTQ users, Meta will no longer flag posts arguing for gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination. And the new policy uses startling outdated terminology to explain its reasoning: “We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political …