Six Months after Meta Rolled Back Hate Speech Policies, More Than 136,000 Users and 40+ Advocacy Organizations Call on Meta to Reinstate Protections

Today, advocates from Ultraviolet, All Out, and GLAAD delivered two petitions (viewable here and here) signed by more than 136,000 people worldwide, calling on Meta to reinstate critical protections against hate speech targeting marginalized communities. The petitions came in response to Meta’s unprecedented rollback of its hate speech policies six months ago. The effort is backed by 41 civil society organizations that also signed an open letter urging the company to reverse course.

Upon delivering the signatures to Meta, Jenna Sherman, Campaign Director focused on tech and gender at UltraViolet, a leading national gender justice organization that has worked with Meta and other tech companies to improve content moderation policies, issued the following statement:

“What we’ve seen today is an undeniable repudiation of Mark Zuckerberg’s dangerous hate speech policy rollbacks,” Sherman said. “Meta claims to care about all of its users, but users themselves could not be clearer on this issue: Meta gutting its content moderation and hate speech policies is harming people across the globe and actually weakening freedom of expression online.”

On January 7, 2025, just ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced alarming rollbacks to key protections for marginalized groups globally — including women, LGBTQ people, and immigrants — against hate speech and harassment. The company also ended its third-party fact-checking program in the U.S.

To better understand the potential impacts of these rollbacks on vulnerable users, Ultraviolet, All Out, and GLAAD surveyed 7,000 users — predominantly women and LGBTQ people — on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads across 86 countries. They reported that, since Meta weakened its hate speech policy, 72% of users see more hate targeting protected groups, 92% feel less protected from being exposed to or targeted by harmful content, over a quarter have been targeted directly with hate or harassment, and 1 in 6 report being the victim of some form of gender-based or sexual violence on Meta platforms.

Many users also shared harrowing testimonials about the forms of hate that they’ve experienced since January 2025, which included direct calls for violence against transgender people, the glorification of femicide, sexual assault threats, encouragement of suicidality, and other forms of online abuse. Read the full report here.

“Meta’s decision to weaken its hate speech policies isn’t abstract — it has made its platforms more dangerous for LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups,” said Leanna Garfield, Senior Manager, GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Program. “Hate and harassment online doesn’t stay online. It emboldens bad actors, fuels real-world violence, and shapes how people are treated in their everyday lives. Meta’s platforms are built by the people who use them, and those people are now demanding better.”

Justin Lessner, Campaigns Manager at All Out, echoes Leanna’s sentiments, sharing that “Zuckerberg’s rollback of Meta’s hate speech policies has enabled the suffering of queer people, women, and people of color across its platforms. That is suffering that Meta is now directly profiting off of — both financially and politically. Meta must protect the people using their platforms: it’s about ensuring equal access, safety, and dignity for everyone online. We stand with 136,000 people and 40 advocacy organizations demanding the reinstatement of critical protections.”

“Meta can no longer stick its head in the sand and pretend that this policy rollback isn’t causing real harm across the globe to its most vulnerable users,” Sherman continued. “By weakening content moderation and aligning his platform more and more with the anti-LGBT+, anti-woman, anti-DEI agenda of Trump-era politics, Zuckerberg — CEO of the largest social media company in the world — is profiting off the perpetuation of hate against some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“We demand that Meta do the right thing, that they reinstate protections and widespread content moderation for users and uphold their responsibility to ensure safe and inclusive online spaces for everyone,” Sherman concluded. “All users deserve online spaces where they can feel safe and thrive. They cannot do that if continually targeted with hate and harassment on the basis of who they are.”

To read the full report, access key findings, and learn more about the campaign, please visit makemetasafe.org.

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weareultraviolet.org, GLAAD.org, AllOut.org

UltraViolet Education Fund is a women-led gender justice 501c3 organization, with an online community of more than 1 million members nationwide. We combine organizing, technology, creative campaigning, and people power to win real-world changes for women and gender expansive people.

GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love.

All Out is a global movement for love and equality. We are mobilizing thousands of people to build a world where no person will have to sacrifice their family or freedom, safety or dignity, because of who they are or who they love.