THE ISSUE

In January 2025, Meta (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads) revised its Hateful Conduct Policy, claiming to protect "free speech." However, these changes explicitly allow discriminatory and hateful speech against LGBTQ+ people. For example:

• Allegations of mental illness: The new policy states that Meta "allows allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation," enabling users to call queer or trans people "mentally ill" simply for their identity.
• Arguments for exclusion: The new policy states Meta permits "content arguing for gender-based limitations of military, law enforcement, and teaching jobs. We also allow the same content based on sexual orientation, when the content is based on religious beliefs," which could target not only LGBTQ+ people but cisgender women as well.

Additionally, pride-based themes for Messenger have been removed from the platform, as have the blog posts that originally announced their release, effectively erasing the existence of the themes in the first place.

The full policy is available at https://transparency.meta.com/policies/community-standards/hateful-conduct/ and here's a news article with some more info: https://www.them.us/story/trans-people-are-freaks-meta-leaks-anti-lgbtq-content

WHY IT MATTERS

These changes create an unsafe environment for LGBTQ+ users and embolden hateful behavior. Meta, a company with billions of global users, has a responsibility to promote respect and dignity for all communities—not enable discrimination. Having a respectful atmosphere on some of the most popular social media platforms in the world is especially important in the current political climate in which significant attention is being placed on removing protections for LGBTQ+ people globally. Meta’s policy shifts are unacceptable, and create a harmful atmosphere of exclusion and hatred at a time when inclusivity is more important than ever.

OUR DEMANDS

We call on Meta to:

1. Reverse policy changes that explicitly permit hate speech.
2. Strengthen protections against homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of hate speech on all its platforms. (For example, prohibiting users from referring to gay or trans people as "groomers".)
3. Publicly affirm support for LGBTQ+ users by reinstating (and expanding) inclusive features like pride themes.

TAKE ACTION

1. Sign this petition to demand change.
2. Share this message widely to spread awareness.
3. Boycott Meta’s platforms. Meta relies on ad revenue generated by user activity. Reducing engagement can pressure the company to act.
4. Explore safer, more inclusive platforms like Mastodon or Bluesky.