Meta rolled back key content moderation policies in 2025, aiming to protect free speech, including discontinuing US fact-checkers in January 2025 [1, 2].
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) analyzed nearly 8 million Facebook comments targeting 100 US members of Congress, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, during the six months before and after Meta's policy changes [1, 2]. The report, published in June 2026, found violent threats targeting US lawmakers quadrupled after Meta eased safeguards [1, 2]. Harassment more than doubled, while racist and gendered abuse increased significantly, tripling or more in some cases [1, 2].
Comments inciting violence against former President Donald Trump also more than doubled, including explicit calls for murder [1, 2]. CCDH highlighted specific examples of gendered and racist abuse directed at lawmakers Jasmine Crockette and Byron Daniels that Meta did not remove [2].
Politicians and election officials across the US have reported escalating threats in recent years. Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot in a politically motivated attack in 2025 [1]. The attack occurred after Meta's moderation rollback and contributed to growing safety concerns. John Curtis, a Republican senator from Utah, said the surge in abusive content "is deeply concerning, particularly in light of recent events" [1].
Meta’s chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan defended the moderation changes as correcting "over-enforcing our rules, limiting legitimate political debate and censoring too much trivial content and subjecting too many people to frustrating enforcement actions" [2]. However, Meta publicly stated hateful content prevalence did not increase throughout 2025 and declined to specifically address the CCDH report, saying they were not provided the report prior to publication [1].
Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, said, "When platforms stop enforcing their own rules against threats, hate, and harassment, they become complicit in normalising intimidation and harassment of elected officials. The result is a culture where violence feels easier to justify and radicals feel empowered" [1].
The CCDH report underlines concerns about online political speech and lawmaker safety following Meta’s 2025 content moderation rollback. The study analyzed a broad data set covering prominent lawmakers and millions of Facebook comments, reflecting a clear rise in direct threats and harassment post-policy change [1, 2].
The next major update from Meta or additional research on online political violence is expected following this report’s release in June 2026.
