Threats Against Politicians Quadrupled After Meta Changed Speech Rules: Report

Researchers analyzed nearly 8 million Facebook comments posted under content from 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, split evenly between the 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats with the largest Facebook followings. (Credit: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)

Threats against U.S. politicians, including President Donald Trump, surged on Facebook after Meta made the controversial decision to loosen its speech rules in January 2025, according to a new report.

WIRED released a report based on research by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), adding new scrutiny to Meta's January 2025 decision to scale back some content moderation practices, end its third-party fact-checking program in the United States, and focus enforcement on what the company described as "illegal and high-severity violations."