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Helle Thorning-Schmidt, now co-chair of Meta’s supervisory board, is the former Prime Minister of Denmark.
The co-chair of the independent body that reviews content on Facebook and Instagram said she is “very concerned” about how parent company Meta’s decision to ditch fact-checkers will affect minority groups.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, of Meta’s supervisory board, told the BBC she welcomed aspects of the overhaul, which will see users decide the accuracy of posts via X-style “community ratings”.
However, speaking on BBC Radio Four’s Today, she added that there were “huge problems” with what had been announced, including the potential impact on the LGBTQ+ community, as well as rights gender and trans.
“We see many cases where hate speech can lead to real harm, which is why we will be watching this space very carefully,” she said.
In a video published Tuesday alongside a company blog post, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the decision was driven by “a return to our roots around free speech.”
He said the third-party fact checkers currently used by the company were “too politically biased,” meaning too many users were being “censored.”
The decision raised questions about the survival of the board – funded by Meta – and was set up by the then chairman of global affairs, Sir Nick Clegg, who announced he was leaving the company there less than a week old.
Ms Thorning-Schmidt – former Prime Minister of Denmark – insisted changes to fact-checking meant it was needed more than ever.
“That’s why it’s good that we have a supervisory board that can discuss this transparently with Meta,” she said.
She welcomed some of Meta’s announcements on moderation, including its aim to find a new way to fact-check after there were cases of “over-enforcement”, with people ending up in “Facebook jail “.
“Kiss Trump”
While Meta says the move – initially introduced in the US – is about free speech, others have suggested it is an attempt to cozy up to the new Trump administration and catch up with the access and influence enjoyed by another tech titan. Elon Musk.
Technology journalist and author Kara Swisher told the BBC it was “the most cynical move” she had seen Mr Zuckerberg make in the “many years” she had been reporting on him.
“Facebook does everything in its best interest,” she told Today.
“He wants to kiss Donald Trump and catch Elon Musk in this act.”
Is Mark Zuckerberg “getting closer” to Donald Trump? Emma Barnett talks to Helle Thorning-Schmidt on the Today show
However, while campaigners against online hate speech reacted with dismay to the change, some free speech advocates welcomed the news.
US free speech group Fire said: “Meta’s announcement shows the marketplace of ideas in action. Its users want a social media platform that doesn’t remove political content or use top-down fact-checkers.
“These changes should result in less arbitrary moderation decisions and freer expression on Meta’s platforms.”
Speaking after the changes were announced, Trump told a news conference that he was impressed by Mr Zuckerberg’s decision and that Meta had “come a long way”.
Asked if Mr Zuckerberg was “directly responding” to threats Trump had made against him in the past, the new US president replied: “Probably.”
Advertiser exit
Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged Tuesday that there was some risk for the company in the change in strategy.
“This means we will detect fewer bad things, but we will also reduce the number of posts and accounts of innocent people that we accidentally delete,” he said in his video message.
X’s move to a more hands-off approach to content moderation has contributed to major payoffs with advertisers.
Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, said this also poses a risk to Meta.
“Meta’s massive size and powerful advertising platform protect it somewhat from an exodus of users and Type-X advertisers,” she told the BBC.
“But brand safety remains a key factor in determining where advertisers spend their budgets: any significant drop in engagement could harm Meta’s advertising business, given the intense competition for users and ad dollars .”
