Free speech or chaos? Meta's content moderation overhaul raises questions

India's social media advertising segment stands at a crossroads, with Meta introducing a major change to its content moderation policies. Facebook (Meta’s previous name) had introduced its fact-checking policy in 2016 to combat misinformation. The social media giant replaced it with ‘Community Notes,’ a user-controlled mechanism.

The new system simplifies content moderation policies by removing restrictions on certain topics while prioritising user contributions for content validation. The decision shifts the responsibility of content verification from third-party experts to the platform’s vast user community, thus, abandoning its its eight-year-old practice.

Meta’s pivot from professional fact-checking to community-driven content validation has sparked a debate among industry leaders about its implications for brands and advertisers. According to some industry players, the tech company's decision will likely lead to an increase in unverified content, raising concerns about brand safety, reputation, and misinformation. Advertisers, they mention, will need to be more vigilant in monitoring ad placement.

Sunitha Natarajan, director - digital strategy, Social Panga

Voicing these concerns, Sunitha Natarajan, director of digital strategy at Social Panga, said, “We live in an era where WhatsApp University exists and is already causing widespread misinformation. This [policy change by Meta] may just lead to more chaos due to no clear verification.”

The rollout complexities

Given India’s linguistic diversity and vast user base (about 37.80 crores on Facebook and 36.29 crores on Instagram as per estimates), the adoption of new Community Notes may face some hurdles. According to industry players, the policy shift may also create a challenge of judicious review of various parameters for user engagement.

Industry leaders state that advertisers will need to carefully monitor which interests are growing and what categories of pages are seeing greater interactions. This becomes especially critical as many users who earlier perceived the fact-checking mechanism as being biased or politically coloured may return to Meta platforms in the next few weeks. As Mark Zuckerberg had himself pointed out, the fact-checkers had become “too politically biased” and had “destroyed more trust than they created”.

With lakhs of daily active users across various demographic profiles, the cascading effect of the policy change may be far-reaching. Industry observers believe that while the impact will be immediately visible in metropolitan centres, it will take a while to percolate it to small towns where digital savviness and literacy levels are lower.

Brand safety

The changing content moderation practices on social media are also leading to challenges related to brand safety and positioning for brand marketers. Will the changed environment push brands to develop strong internal guidelines to protect their brands from potential risks?

The impact on brand safety is being keenly discussed by brands as a new concern. The opponents of the move argue that in the new environment, advertisements might end up being placed next to unmoderated or harmful content, severely damaging brand reputation.

Some industry observers express concerns about the move's potential impact on their campaigns' performance metrics, such as conversion rates and ROI. They also looked worried about the likelihood of additional costs that brands and agencies might have to bear due to increased monitoring and brand presence management.

Industry players also share their scepticism regarding the authenticity of content creeping into the minds of the audience. As narratives demand multiple loops of feedback due to a potential dent in trust caused by unverified content sources, their effect on the target audiences might get diluted, if not lost, according to industry representatives.

Campaign effectiveness

Meta's decision is also expected to lead to complexities in measuring and optimising advertising by brands, industry leaders express. They opine that the move has created a need for sophisticated analytical solutions which can evaluate content quality and engagement.

New metrics will need to be developed to assess quantitative aspects like engagement as well as qualitative aspects like content credibility, they mention. Ruhin Chatterjee, strategy at Talented noted that “Quality of engagement has always been a difficult thing to measure beyond a certain scale, and this decision [by Meta] could make that even more challenging.”

Analysing the changing social scenario, industry representatives observe that while the 'Community Notes' feature will promote a decentralised approach, it will also open up credibility challenges, particularly in polarised environments. If users perceive Meta’s platforms as unreliable sources of information, long-term engagement might suffer.

The players also believe that the change will have a mixed impact on their revenues. While some brands, at least initially, would reduce their ad spending due to safety concerns, others might increase their investment to capitalise on potentially higher engagement rates. The advertising professionals seem to have taken a wait-and-watch approach to see how this change might impact Meta’s bundled pricing and the overall cost of advertising on its platforms.

Shaunak Mukherjee, co-founder, Evolute Global

Providing a different perspective, Shaunak Mukherjee, co-founder of Evolute Global, observed that while the new policy carried the risk of rapid spread of misinformation if not managed effectively, it would also have a positive effect on social activity as it would strengthen public or community ownership of social media content.

Some industry players also anticipate the policy change to lead to the creation of new opportunities for brands and advertisers. Sudharshan Anandkumar, co-founder of Ting, shared an optimistic viewpoint.

He said, “The good side of it is that people can voice their opinions more freely, with a lot more freedom and a lot less fear. From a brand and marketing perspective, brands stand to gain a lot from this feature. For brands that stay true to their voice, moral compass, and roots, I see nothing but growth.”

Sudharshan Anandkumar, co-founder, Ting

Industry players are closely observing how competing social media platforms might respond to Meta’s move by readjusting their policies and being competitive. They believe that Meta’s move might have a subtle but certain effect on India’s competitive social media space.

While Meta’s dominant position appears to be unchallenged at the moment, its competitors might consider this as an opportunity to create differentiation by revisiting their content moderation policies. Any such moves by competitors could offer new opportunities for advertisers, brand marketers, as well as consumers.

According to industry players, Meta’s shift to Community Notes will pave the way for more interactive and engaging user experiences on the web. By eliminating controlled content regulation, Meta's actions might catalyse the design of a freer and more participatory ecosystem that encourages free speech and would, therefore, appeal to India’s population.

Long-term effects

The industry’s response indicates the beginning of a larger discourse on the future of content moderation on social media. While some view the move as a necessary phase in the evolution towards truly user-empowered platforms, others express concerns about the erosion of quality standards and trust.

Anita Kukreja, head of strategic alliances and brand at IceWarp India, said, “Meta’s brand perception is closely tied to its ability to address pressing concerns such as misinformation. While ‘Community Notes’ signals a step toward transparency, its effectiveness will shape public opinion.”

While the new policy rollout is awaited, brands and agencies are using this transition period to prepare for the regime change. They are developing new methods to navigate the changed environment, laying a greater emphasis on content monitoring and brand safety.

Rishi Sen, senior vice president, DO

According to some industry players, as content moderation disappears, it may even lead to an increase in Meta’s revenues albeit from ‘tainted’ sources. Such predictions further tend to raise concerns about integrity on social media. Rishi Sen, senior vice president at DO, said, “Ad revenue for Meta might grow if ‘dark brands’ like gambling, alcohol, and tobacco, manage to start advertising because of the newer moderation policies.”

For now, adland is waiting to see how the content moderation rolls out and are gearing up to roll with the punches.