Meta’s spin spurs exodus

Wednesday, 22 January 2025 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Following recent changes and a shift in allegiance to the right, and with strong support for the incoming US President Donald J. Trump, users of Meta platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have begun a mass exodus. Currently, there are no exact statistics on the number of people who have moved away from these platforms.

In recent weeks, Facebook has made several changes, including ending the third-party fact-checking system, especially in the US, and withdrawing content around political discourse, similar to Elon Musk’s X. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta platforms have also disbanded their equity and inclusion team. This has raised concerns that the LGBTQ community could be marginalised because of their identities.

Three of the world’s richest people, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg, have recently been in a hurry to curry favour with the first US president to enter the highest office with 34 felony convictions. Zuckerberg’s efforts to shift his allegiance have caused a cascade of people moving away to other platforms.

NBC News reported that they had reviewed hundreds of posts across various social media platforms indicating that users are deleting their Meta accounts. Bluesky, a platform similar to X, seems to be the alternative for many people fleeing Elon Musk’s politically motivated social media. Some Meta users are also leaning towards South American platforms.

Mark A. Lemley is an American attorney and academic. He is currently William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Director of the Stanford Law School Program in Law, Science and Technology recently stated that whoever represents Meta over a copyright issue will drop his client and reconsider using other platforms.

“I have struggled with how to respond to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s descent into toxic masculinity and Neo-Nazi madness,” Lemley wrote. “While I have thought about quitting Facebook, I find great value in the connections and friends I have here, and it doesn’t seem fair that I should lose that because Zuckerberg is having a mid-life crisis,” Lemley was quoted.