That’s a sharp turn from his statements in 2023 laying out the goal of a “less angry place for conversations” that wouldn’t do anything to encourage politics or hard news. However, under Meta’s new approach to moderation — and new rules about what users can say on its platforms — that goal is going out the window just as the Trump administration prepares to take over.
Until now, users have had to opt-in to seeing recommendations of content deemed political, but the change rolling out this week in the US and to the rest of the world next week will turn on the recommendations and a content control setting available with options for less, standard (the default setting), and more.
In a series of Threads posts, Mosseri reiterated, “I’ve maintained very publicly and for a long time that it not our place to show people political content from accounts they don’t follow,” and that “it’s proven impractical to draw a red line around what is and is not political content.”
In a video on Instagram, he said that the push for political content — particularly from users on Threads — is “by the way, very different from the feedback we were getting only a few years ago about people feeling that they were overly exposed to political content on our platforms.” Of course, according to the Wall Street Journal, that was before Mark Zuckerberg experienced the effects of filters cutting down the reach of his post about recovering from a torn ACL and before Meta’s new and friendlier-to-Trump policy chief took over.
Meta is ending its third-party fact checks and making sweeping changes to its content moderation policies.
Meta is making sweeping changes to its content moderation policies, including abandoning third-party fact checks in favor of crowd-sourced “Community Notes” and loosening restrictions on topics like immigration and gender identity. Under the updated Hateful Conduct policy, for example, calling gay and trans people “mentally ill” is now allowed, while an explicit ban on referring to women as “household objects” has been removed.
New policy lead Joel Kaplan said that in pursuit of “More Speech and Fewer Mistakes,” Meta will focus more on preventing over-enforcement of its content policies and less on mediating potentially harmful but technically legal discussions on its platform.
It comes just two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement appealed to many of the incoming administration’s talking points. Zuckerberg has promised to move US content review from California to Texas, where he says there’s “less concern about the bias of our teams,” and said Meta would work with Trump to “push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more.”
They confirmed that the suspect, an active duty soldier in the US Army named Matthew Livelsberger, had a “possible manifesto” saved on his phone, in addition to an email to a podcaster and other letters. They also showed video evidence of him preparing for the explosion by pouring fuel onto the truck while stopped before driving to the hotel. He’d also kept a log of supposed surveillance, although the officials said he did not have a criminal record and was not being surveilled or investigated.
The Las Vegas Metro Police also released several slides showing questions he’d posed to ChatGPT several days before the explosion, asking about explosives, how to detonate them, and how to detonate them with a gunshot, as well as information about where to buy guns, explosive material, and fireworks legally along his route.
Asked about the queries, OpenAI spokesperson Liz Bourgeois said:
We are saddened by this incident and committed to seeing AI tools used responsibly. Our models are designed to refuse harmful instructions and minimize harmful content. In this case, ChatGPT responded with information already publicly available on the internet and provided warnings against harmful or illegal activities. We’re working with law enforcement to support their investigation.
The officials say they are still examining possible sources for the explosion, described as a deflagration that traveled rather slowly as opposed to a high explosives detonation that would’ve moved faster and caused more damage. While investigators say they haven’t ruled out other possibilities like an electrical short yet, an explanation that matches some of the queries and the available evidence is that the muzzle flash of a gunshot ignited fuel vapor/fireworks fuses inside the truck, which then caused a larger explosion of fireworks and other explosive materials.
Trying the queries in ChatGPT today still works, however, the information he requested doesn’t appear to be restricted and could be obtained by most search methods. Still, the suspect’s use of a generative AI tool and the investigators’ ability to track those requests and present them as evidence take questions about AI chatbot guardrails, safety, and privacy out of the hypothetical realm and into our reality.
These two sections outlining speech (written or visual) are new additions:
We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like “weird.”
We do allow 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.
Another section that specifically banned making dehumanizing references to transgender or non-binary people as “it” or referring to women “as household objects or property or objects in general” has been removed entirely.
The opening statement about what the policies are “designed to allow room for” that previously listed only health or positive support groups has changed too (new additions marked in bold):
People sometimes use sex- or gender-exclusive language when discussing access to spaces often limited by sex or gender, such as access to bathrooms, specific schools, specific military, law enforcement, or teaching roles, and health or support groups. Other times, they call for exclusion or use insulting language in the context of discussing political or religious topics, such as when discussing transgender rights, immigration, or homosexuality. Finally, sometimes people curse at a gender in the context of a romantic break-up. Our policies are designed to allow room for these types of speech.
The section that specifically banned targeting people or groups “with claims that they have or spread the novel coronavirus” has also been removed.
A link to this 2017 blog post about the “hard questions” Meta faces dealing with hate speech has been removed, and some references to hate speech are now changed to “hateful conduct.”
The policy still says that content about denying access to spaces and social services “on the basis of their protected characteristics” is not allowed, but there’s also a new exception (the added text is in bold):
...except for sex or gender-based exclusion from spaces commonly limited by sex or gender, such as restrooms, sports and sports leagues, health and support groups, and specific schools
Even before these changes, the LGBTQ+ media advocacy group GLAAD reported last year that Meta often failed to remove posts violating its hate speech policies. Now, even those guardrails that had been established to protect people from internet harassment are disappearing.
“Without these necessary hate speech and other policies, Meta is giving the green light for people to target LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanizing narratives. With these changes, Meta is continuing to normalize anti-LGBTQ hatred for profit — at the expense of its users and true freedom of expression. Fact-checking and hate speech policies protect free speech.” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in a statement responding to the changes.
Meta’s Oversight Board says it will be monitoring the situation given the potential for new harms. “We’re very concerned about gender rights, LGBTQ+ rights, trans people’s rights on the platforms,” said co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt in an interview with the BBC, “because we are seeing many instances where hate speech can lead to real life harm, so we will be watching that space very carefully.”
A note from Meta’s new policy chief Joel Kaplansaid, “We’re getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate. It’s not right that things can be said on TV or the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms.” Wiredalso reports that the changes “blindsided” organizations that have been partnering with Meta on its now-discarded moderation efforts, with one unnamed editor at a fact-checking organization saying the effect of the decision “is going to eventually drain us out.”
Update, January 8th: Added quote from Helle Thorning-Schmidt, co-chair of the Meta Oversight Board.
During its CES 2025 keynote, PlayStation Productions head Asad Qizilbash and Screen Gems president Ashley Brucks explained how Sony plans to keep expanding its IP after adaptations of The Last of Us, Gran Turismo, Twisted Metal, and Uncharted.
They announced that Sony Pictures is working on a film adaptation of last year’s hit Helldivers 2, while Columbia Pictures and PlayStation Productions are in “early stages” of developing a Horizon Zero Dawn movie. After an attempt at turning it into a Netflix seriesfell apart, the HZD movie will, like the game, tell the main character Aloy’s origin story in a fallen futuristic world, but that is all of the information we have about them for now.
Earlier in the presentation, execs also announced that Crunchyroll and Aniplex are teaming up to create an anime series based on Ghost of Tsushima.
Finally, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann took the stage and presented a clip from The Last of Us season 2, which will arrive on Max in April.
A day after a Cybertruck exploded in the Trump Hotel valet area, law enforcement officials released more details on the progress of their investigation, including the coroner’s confirmation that the driver was a US Army soldier named Matthew Livelsberger, who died by suicide of a self-inflicted gunshot just before the explosives in the truck’s bed detonated.
“I’m comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing that occurred immediately thereafter,” said Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “I’m not giving it any other labels.” McMahill also noted that police haven’t investigated the suspect’s phones or laptops yet, or identified a possible motive.
Separately, the Denver Gazette reported on text messages Livelsberger sent after renting the truck on December 28th, with videos of the vehicle and boasts about its “ungodly” speed. The New York Post cited an unnamed source saying he left his home in Colorado the day after Christmas after an argument with his wife. The Independent contacted Livelsberger’s uncle, who described him to the paper as someone who “loved the Army” and “loved Trump.”
Image: LMVPD
Camera footage of the Cybertruck before the explosion.
During the briefing, law enforcement officials displayed surveillance video of the truck once it arrived in Las Vegas on the morning of January 1st and a map of its eight stops at Tesla charging stations over three days. They also said that people from Tesla were coming to assist in the investigation, including possibly recovering video from the truck’s built-in cameras.
Image: LVMPD
While the sheriff said investigators had received information about the charging stops from Elon Musk, they are also looking to see who else may have been charging at the same time to possibly find video captured by those vehicles.
Turo said on Friday, “We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone – including law enforcement.” However, “as an immediate next step while we wait for law enforcement to conclude their investigations, we’re consulting with national security and counterterrorism experts to learn more about how we can get even better and play our part in helping prevent anything like this from happening ever again,” writes CEO Andre Haddad.
It has also been reported that both men spent time at the same military base and served in different areas of Afghanistan in 2009. However, the sheriff said that while they’re not prepared to “rule in or rule out anything at this point,” there’s no evidence at this time of a connection between them or a link between the incidents.
The truck was transported to the department’s fleet services area for further inspection, and the investigators have reported finding the subject’s iPhone, identification, and two firearms that had been purchased two days earlier. The explosive components found inside the truck consisted of consumer-grade fireworks, mortars, and aerial shells, as well as fuel enhancers and the kinds of explosive targets that can be purchased at sporting goods stores, according to Kenneth Cooper, the ATF assistant special agent in charge.
The Department of Justice’s list of solutions for fixing Google’s illegal antitrust behavior and restoring competition in the search engine market started with forcing the company to sell Chrome, and late Friday night, Google responded with a list of its own (included below).
Instead of breaking off Chrome, Android, or Google Play as the DOJ’s filing considers, Google’s proposed fixes aim at the payments it makes to companies like Apple and Mozilla for exclusive, prioritized placement of its services, its licensing deals with companies that make Android phones, and contracts with wireless carriers. They don’t address a DOJ suggestion about possibly forcing Google to share its valuable search data with other companies to help their products catch up.
According to Google’s lawyers, the ruling pointed to arrangements with Apple and Mozilla for their browsers, the companies that make Android phones, and wireless carriers. Google regulatory VP Lee-Anne Mulholland writes on the company blog, “This was a decision about our search distribution contracts, so our proposed remedies are directed to that.
For three years, its proposal would block Google from signing deals that link licenses for Chrome, Search, and its Android app store, Google Play, with placement or preinstallation of its other apps, including Chrome, Google Assistant, or the Gemini AI assistant.
It would also still allow Google to pay for default search placement in browsers but allow for multiple deals across different platforms or browsing modes and require the ability to revisit the deals at least once a year.
While the company still plans to appeal Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling that said, “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” first, it says it will submit a revised proposal on March 7th, ahead of a two-week trial over the issue in April.
Despite only officially launching the game in spring of this year, Ubisoft has already announced that it’s ending development and sunsetting its free-to-play team-based shooter XDefiant. Like Hyper Scape before it, XDefiant had high expectations, with Ubisoft touting more than 1 million players in its closed beta last year. Now, it will disappear quickly, as it’s no longer accepting new players as of today and is scheduled to shut off the servers entirely next June.
Despite a delayed launch, Ubisoft said that XDefiant had reached more than 10 million players in its first two weeks and “outperformed expectations thanks to acquisition and strong average revenue per session day.” However, it couldn’t maintain that momentum, and by this fall, rumors of trouble surfaced, with Insider Gaming reporting that concurrent player numbers across all platforms had fallen below 20,000.
Ubisoft states, “The game will remain available to all players who joined XDefiant before December 3rd, 2024. All functionalities, including progression, events, rewards, and achievements, will continue to be available until June 3rd, 2025.” The planned Season 3 content will still launch, and the company is refunding anyone who bought the Ultimate Founders Pack, as well as players who bought VC and DLC in the last month.
Like with Concord developer Firewalk Studios, this shutdown comes with job losses. According to Ubisoft, “difficult consequences” are leading to “the closing of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and to the ramp down of our Sydney production site, with 143 people departing in San Francisco and 134 people likely to depart in Osaka and Sydney.”
The leaks earlier were accurate, with the Type 00 two-door coupe presenting a long hood that leads to a low roof and fastback rear profile that foregoes any rear window. Jaguar chief creative officer Gerry McGovern said in a presentation that “when Jaguar was at its best, it threw away the design rulebook and created E-Type and the XJS...objects of desire.” This car is supposed to be another step in that direction.
There are plenty of details, like its 23-inch wheels, oval steering wheel, three brass bars running through the cabin, butterfly doors, and a stone plinth separating the seats. We also can’t miss the Lincoln Nautilus-like thin display along the inside of its windshield that remains when the main interior screens fold away and out of sight.
They’re all here as a design preview for the first new-generation production Jaguar on the way, an electric four-door GT that will be presented late next year.
Jaguar is projecting up to 430 miles of range and fast charging that can add up to 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes for the real car. But for now, all we have to see is the sleek concept vehicle, presented in Miami Pink and London Blue at Miami Art Week, and a very standard-looking invitation to sign up for more information.
A few weeks ago, Microsoft exec Sarah Bond said that in November, “players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox App on Android.” It’s almost December and the feature still isn’t live, but Bond says it’s not Microsoft’s fault.
The problem, as she puts it, is that Microsoft would only be able to do it once a court order takes effect that forces sweeping changes for Google’s Play Store on Android, like opening it up to competition and ending the requirement for apps to use Google Play Billing.
3/4: Due to a temporary administrative stay recently granted by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned. Our team has the functionality built and ready to go live as soon as the court...
Strava recently informed its users and partners that new terms for its API restrict the data that third-party apps can show, refrain from replicating Strava’s look, and place a ban on using data “for any model training related to artificial intelligence, machine learning or similar applications.”
Effective November 11, the updated API agreement introduces three key changes that provide Strava users with greater control, security, and a consistent experience:
Stronger Privacy Standards: Third-party apps may now only display a user’s Strava activity data to that specific user. Users will continue to have access to their...
