Meta Blocks Posts by Abortion Pill Providers, Fueling Growing Concerns
In recent days, Meta Platforms has drawn significant attention after Instagram and Facebook reportedly blocked and hid posts from abortion pill providers. According to The New York Times, the company blurred some posts and suspended the accounts of key providers, such as Aid Access, Women Help Women, Just the Pill, and Hey Jane. While Meta confirmed these actions, the company has insisted that they were unrelated to its recent policy shifts.
Meta explained that the post-blocking and account suspensions were due to the enforcement of community standards related to the sale of pharmaceutical drugs without proper certification. They attributed some incidents to "overenforcement" of rules, but did not clarify if the posts actually violated specific guidelines concerning abortion pills.
These actions come amid a broader shake-up of Meta’s platform policies. Earlier this month, before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the company introduced changes like removing fact-checks and relaxing hate speech policies, sparking debate about its evolving content moderation approach. Meta has insisted that the blocking of posts and suspensions were not linked to these changes, but critics are raising questions about the platform’s increasing role in moderating sensitive health-related information.
Recently, Instagram found itself under fire for blocking LGBTQ content, which Meta claimed was an "accident," further fuelling concerns about the platform's practices. The company also faced backlash for blocking the #democrat hashtag, leading many to believe that these actions are part of a larger pattern of moderating political and social content in ways that could affect free expression.
For years, Meta platforms, particularly Instagram, have been accused of blocking or removing educational content related to sex and LGBTQ+ issues. In 2022, Instagram blocked posts mentioning abortion after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, attributing it to a "technical glitch." The company also faced criticism for rejecting period care ads, deeming them either political or adult content. These issues have only intensified the conversation around Meta's growing role in deciding what users can and cannot access on its platforms.
With abortion pills becoming a key alternative to in-clinic procedures, particularly in states with restrictive abortion laws, these actions are deeply concerning for many advocates. Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have become vital resources for individuals seeking information about reproductive health, and limiting access to these resources could have significant consequences.
Just this week, the Trump administration also shut down reproductiverights.gov, a government site that had provided critical information on birth control, emergency contraception, and abortion pills. This closure, combined with Meta's actions, has further fueled concerns about access to reproductive healthcare in the U.S.
As the national debate over abortion rights continues to unfold, Meta’s content moderation practices are under the microscope. The company’s decisions to block posts and suspend accounts are raising crucial questions about the balance between legal compliance, user access to vital health information, and the growing power of tech platforms in shaping public discourse.
The scrutiny of Meta’s moderation practices is unlikely to die down anytime soon, and as the company navigates these challenges, it will be increasingly important to examine the fine line between enforcing rules and protecting free access to information on matters of public health.
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Meta’s Ambitious $60-65 Billion Investment in AI: A Vision for the Future of Technology
Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of a massive $60-65 billion investment into Meta AI signals the company’s unwavering commitment to driving the future of artificial intelligence. This monumental investment is poised to reshape the AI landscape, fueling innovations that will revolutionize the way people interact with technology.
In a post shared on Facebook, Zuckerberg emphasized that 2025 will be a pivotal year for Meta AI. He predicted that Meta AI will serve more than 1 billion users, with the Llama 4 model becoming the gold standard in AI. Llama, Meta’s open-source Large Language Model (LLM), is already powering AI across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The current Llama 3 is already impressive, but Zuckerberg’s bold vision for Llama 4 in 2025 promises even greater advancements in AI technology.
This investment will also fund the construction of an immense data center—a project so vast that it could cover a substantial portion of Manhattan. The data center will provide over two gigawatts of energy and process immense amounts of data, ensuring that Meta's AI systems can handle the future demands of its platforms. With this center, Meta expects to bring one gigawatt of computing power online this year, ending the year with 1.3 million GPUs to support its AI capabilities.
Zuckerberg's vision doesn’t stop at infrastructure. Meta is also focusing on creating an AI engineer that will contribute to the company’s research and development efforts, producing code that will continuously drive Meta’s AI advancements. His goal is to transform the company’s products and services by integrating AI more deeply into every facet of Meta’s ecosystem.
While this announcement comes on the heels of a lawsuit alleging that Llama was trained using pirated materials, Zuckerberg’s forward-looking commitment to AI innovation remains steadfast. Furthermore, the announcement follows the unveiling of The Stargate Project, a $500 billion investment into AI infrastructure by President Trump and OpenAI, which will also build AI data centers.
In his closing remarks, Zuckerberg expressed his excitement about the long-term impact of this investment: "This is a massive effort, and over the coming years it will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership. Let’s go build!"
With this game-changing investment, Meta is positioning itself at the forefront of the AI revolution. The integration of AI into Meta’s platforms, paired with the construction of an unparalleled data center and the development of next-generation AI systems, will propel the company into a new era of innovation. Zuckerberg's ambitious plans for Meta AI are set to shape the future of digital interaction and redefine how we engage with technology on a global scale.
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Facebook and Twitter are both taking action after a video shared by President Trump they say contains misinformation about the coronavirus
The social media giant removed a video from Donald Trump's official Facebook page on Wednesday. The stated reason, according to a company spokesperson, was that the post spread misinformation about the coronavirus.
"This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation," confirmed the spokesperson over email.
A visit to Trump's Facebook page shows no trace of the post. When asked if Facebook would put some sort of notice in place of the now-removed video — perhaps explaining why it was removed — the spokesperson replied that's not Facebook's policy.
"Don’t think we would put notice on content we remove, so in this case the post just comes down," they clarified.
In the removed video, the president told Fox & Friends that schools should remain open.
"My view is that schools should be open," Trump said. “If you look at children, children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease.”
He added that children have "much stronger immune systems" and "just don't have a problem."
According to Facebook, this is the first time the social media platform has taken down a post from the president regarding misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.
It was not immediately clear if all posts containing the video have been removed.
The move comes as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has faced increased scrutiny to crack down on misinformation since the 2016 election, with a long list of companies that have threatened to pull advertising on the platform.
The same clip was also shared by the Trump campaign's Twitter account - @teamtrump - and retweeted by the president himself.
A Twitter spokesperson told Fox News the tweet is "in violation of the Twitter rules on COVID-19 misinformation" and that the Trump campaign will "be required to remove the Tweet before they can Tweet again."
Trump campaign spokesperson Courtney Parella told Fox News that President Trump was "stating a fact that children are less susceptible to the coronavirus."
"Another day, another display of Silicon Valley’s flagrant bias against this President, where the rules are only enforced in one direction," she added. "Social media companies are not the arbiters of truth.”
Parella also claimed that the Twitter spokesperson who flagged campaign's suspended account was Kamala Harris' former press secretary.
A review of the latest available data by the Kasier Family Foundation found while there is already widespread community transmission in areas of the United States, there is "clearly a risk of further spread associated with reopening schools."
"The risks of reopening need to be considered carefully in light of the recognized benefits of in-person education," the foundation added.
The foundation noted there is "some evidence for an age gradient in infectiousness, with younger children less likely and older children more likely to transmit at levels similar to adults."
The National Academies of Medicine reported that “compared with adults, children who contract COVID-19 are more likely to experience asymptomatic infection or mild upper respiratory symptoms”, and that over 90 percent of children testing positive will have no or mild symptoms.
Children under the age of 18 account for 7%, or more than 200,000, of reported COVID-19 cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also account for 1% of coronavirus-related hospitalizations and less than 1% of coronavirus-related deaths.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 4.8 million coronavirus cases in the United States. More than 1.5 million Americans have recovered, while more than 157,000 Americans have died.
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