Safety Off: threats and abuse surged after Meta's policy changes

This 26-page CCDH report compares nearly 8 million Facebook comments directed at Members of Congress across two six-month windows, one before and one after Meta rolled back proactive enforcement against violent, hateful, and harassing content on January 7, 2025.

The comparison found that abusive comments roughly tripled overall, from about 24,000 to 78,000; violent threats quadrupled, from about 1,800 to 7,600; hate speech quadrupled, from about 6,900 to 30,000; and harassment roughly doubled, from about 15,700 to 39,900. Comments containing violent or incitement language directed at President Trump also doubled over the same period, and the report cites specific examples of explicit threats left visible on the platform.

CCDH argues these increases were foreseeable, noting it had warned of such a surge when Meta's policy change was announced, and frames the findings as evidence that reduced moderation drives people — particularly members of minority groups — away from public political participation. The report calls on Meta to restore proactive safety enforcement ahead of upcoming elections and urges greater congressional oversight of platform self-regulation.