Letter to Meta concerning the changes to their Hateful Conduct policy

On Friday 10th January, we published a letter to Meta concerning the changes to their content moderation policy. Their new policy presents a real threat to LGBTQ+ people, women and other minority groups. We urge Meta to act now to stand against hate, dehumanisation and inequality.

Read the letter below, followed by the alt text underneath:

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Dear Meta,

We are writing to express our outrage and deep concern over Meta’s recent changes to its Hateful Conduct policy, particularly the decision to allow users to publicly allege mental illness or abnormality based on someone’s gender or sexual orientation. This policy is a direct threat to the safety, dignity, and well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals worldwide, opening the door to further abuse, harassment, and discrimination.

Adding to this harm is Meta’s decision to allow deeply misogynistic rhetoric by permitting users to compare women to household objects. This dehumanising policy contributes to a culture where women are reduced to tools or objects, a narrative historically used to strip them of agency and justify inequality, violence and exploitation. Such language reinforces gender stereotypes that perpetuate harmful dynamics of power and control, undermining decades of progress toward gender equality.

This harm intersects dangerously with other aspects of Meta’s policies, particularly as they relate to LGBTQ+ women and transgender women. By permitting language that diminishes and dehumanises women, Meta exacerbates the risks faced by marginalised women, who are already more vulnerable to violence, discrimination and harassment.

Let us be unequivocal: Women are not objects and LGBTQ+ individuals are not mentally ill. To suggest being LGBTQ+ is the result of mental illness is factually false and pushes dangerous misinformation. Homosexuality was declassified as a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, and transgender identities were similarly removed from the WHO’s list of mental disorders in 2019. These decisions were based on decades of rigorous scientific research and advocacy, affirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are natural variations of human diversity, not pathologies. Leading organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), American Medical Association (AMA), and American Psychological Association (APA), recognise this as fact.

Allowing such statements to proliferate is more than a policy failure; it actively contributes to a hostile, unsafe environment on Meta’s platforms. It normalises rhetoric that emboldens perpetrators of abuse, harassment and violence, both online and offline.

Statements permitted under Meta’s current policies include the following:

• "A trans woman isn't a woman, it's a pathetic confused man."

• “God created two genders, ‘transgender’ people are not a real thing.”

• “This whole non-binary thing is made up. Those people don’t exist, they’re just in need of some therapy.”

• “Gays are not normal.”

These statements and policies are not isolated issues; they form part of a broader pattern of dehumanisation and regression. By legitimising this kind of harmful rhetoric, Meta is complicit in enabling real-world harm.

In the United States, for example, the threat is already manifesting. Idaho Republicans have openly called for the reversal of equal marriage, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is on the rise in multiple states, and women have already lost reproductive rights in certain states. While in the UK, young trans people have lost vital healthcare rights and conversations are being held to remove wider trans rights protected under the Equality Act (2010). Meta’s actions align with and help facilitate these far-right agendas, advancing a climate of intolerance and authoritarianism that threatens to dismantle LGBTQ+ and wider human rights. These policies are not just careless; they are complicit in the road to fascism.

Meta’s actions also undermine its own stated commitments to inclusion and safety. While the “Safety Centre” on Meta’s platforms highlights protections for LGBTQ+ individuals and women, these recent policy changes reveal a glaring contradiction. Meta cannot claim to prioritise safety while permitting language that actively dehumanises and endangers vulnerable communities.

Meta is a global leader in the digital space, and with this influence comes a responsibility to foster environments that uphold dignity, inclusion, and respect. Allowing language that compares women to objects or dehumanises LGBTQ+ individuals undermines these principles entirely.

We demand that Meta reverse these harmful policies immediately and reinstate protections that safeguard against hate speech targeting gender, sexual orientation and identity. Meta must choose to be a force for good, one that prioritises safety and equality over profit and platform engagement. Anything less is a betrayal of its users and a gross abdication of moral responsibility.

We urge you to act now to stand against hate, dehumanisation, and inequality. Your platform’s power comes with immense responsibility—use it wisely.

Signed,

Thomas Willett and Matthew Blackwood

Co-Executive Directors, Equality Amplified