Meta's new policies could ignite anti-semitism, warns Jewish leader 

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed grave concern today over Meta’s recent policy changes, questioning the company’s commitment to combating antisemitism, hate speech, and misinformation.

Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO and National Director, stated:"It is mind-blowing how one of the world’s most profitable companies, with advanced technology at its disposal, is making significant steps backward in addressing antisemitism, hate, and misinformation while leaving vulnerable and marginalized groups unprotected. The only real winner here is Meta’s bottom line, and as a result, all of society will suffer."

The ADL Center for Technology and Society also weighed in on the policy shift:

Meta’s new approach will rely heavily on user reporting for most forms of harm, excluding a few categories such as terrorism, child sexual exploitation, fraud, and scams. However, the ADL’s recent report card revealed that Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) failed to respond to any reported antisemitic content when flagged by average users.

"Meta must overhaul its user reporting process," said the ADL, "unless it intends to completely abandon its responsibility to combat rising antisemitism and hate, especially at a time when both are surging online and offline."

Finally, the ADL raised concerns about Meta’s shift toward “community notes” over traditional fact-checking processes to tackle misinformation, warning that this could exacerbate the spread of harmful, misleading content. Recent ADL research on hateful misinformation during elections underscores the risks of rolling back effective measures to address false information online.