The Internet’s Future Is Looking Bleaker By the Day

Both Meta’s and TikTok’s moderation systems are far from perfect and consistently make mistakes. Earlier this week, Taylor Lorenz reported that Meta restricted queer content and hashtags as “sensitive content,” including hashtags like #trans, #lesbianpride, and #bisexualpride. As recently as October, TikTok laid off hundreds of content moderation workers, replacing them with AI.

But it’s Instagram, and especially its Reels product, that has a reputation for harassment. With Zuckerberg’s decision to rescind policies barring hateful speech, he’s made clear that distinction is worth the possibility of political clout come Inauguration Day.

There’s the possibility that other platforms could follow suit. Elon Musk was the first to set the precedent of rolling trust and safety when he bought X two years ago. After Meta’s announcement on Tuesday, YouTube declined to comment when asked by The Wall Street Journal if it would make similar fact-checking and policy changes, which certainly seems to leave the door open.

It appears, though, that TikTok’s parent company is still interested in fact-checking and moderation. Speaking with CNN, one Meta fact-checker said that it will remain operational with funding coming from, among others, Bytedance.

For US users, this only really matters as long as TikTok exists within the US. Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case dealing with the government’s attempts to ban the popular app nationwide. If SCOTUS doesn’t save TikTok by January 19, or some magical deal with an American owner isn’t consummated out of the ether, the app—which many users, who have speech rights of their own, see as a safer space than its alternative—will be gone.

The Chatroom

X has seen at least two mass exoduses since Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022. The first occurred soon after Musk closed the deal, and the second came not long after the most recent US election was called for Trump.

In light of this week’s news, are you planning to abandon Meta platforms? Do you no longer feel safe on Facebook or Instagram? I’d love to hear about how your social media habits are changing.

Share your thoughts in the comments below, or send them to mail@wired.com.

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What Else We’re Reading

🔗 Students Charged in ‘To Catch a Predator’ TikTok Scheme: A group of Massachusetts college students have been charged with kidnapping and conspiracy after coordinating a To Catch a Predator–like “sting” operation on campus and posting it to TikTok. (New York Times)

🔗 Facebook Deletes Internal Employee Criticism of New Board Member Dana White: Meta is removing employee criticism over its hiring of UFC CEO Dana White from an internal company messaging system. Some employees commented about a 2023 video of White slapping his wife at a bar on New Year’s Eve. (404 Media)

🔗 Heritage Foundation Plans to ‘Identify and Target’ Wikipedia Editors: The Heritage Foundation, the Project 2025 publisher, recently told investors that it plans to use facial recognition software and hacked material dumps to identify Wikipedia editors. (Forward)

The Download

On Friday, I’ll be joining a handful of my other WIRED colleagues in covering oral arguments in the TikTok v. US case. Our live blog of the day’s events will be up on our site before things get started at 10 am ET. C-SPAN is streaming the arguments live here.

Also, this is a TikTok of the chillest January 6 get-together.

That’s it for today—thanks again for subscribing. You can get in touch with me via email, Instagram, X, and Signal at makenakelly.32.