Is Meta moderating its content too much? A top executive at the company shared regrets over removing posts about the pandemic.
Meta’s President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg admitted the company has wrongfully taken down posts across its apps, pointing to the height of COVID-19.
He told reporters Monday, Dec. 2, “No one during the pandemic knew how the pandemic was going to unfold, so this really is wisdom in hindsight. But with that hindsight, we feel that we overdid it a bit.”
CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the House Judiciary Committee in August, the company’s content rules during the pandemic were influenced by pressure from the Biden administration.
Meta and other social media companies face increasing pressure to improve the safety of their platforms amid hateful or misleading information, while also making sure users have free speech online.
The moderation impacted political posts as well. Meta recently apologized after its systems suppressed photos of President-elect Donald Trump after his attempted assassination.
Clegg also commented on Meta’s election content in a blog post Tuesday, Dec. 3, “Too often harmless content gets taken down or restricted and too many people get penalized unfairly.“
He added the company has worked throughout the past year to update content policies fairly. He noted that no platform will ever strike this balance “100% of the time.”