Deleting Meta
I’ve felt uncomfortable for a while now using Meta’s products. I had Facebook and Instagram accounts and while I didn’t use them much (I had about 50 connections on each) I did use them. I was a fairly heavy user of WhatsApp, it being my main form of text communication.
Recently, my sense of unease increased.
Firstly came pronouncements from Zuckerberg that tech companies need more ‘masculine energy’ and going on to state in his interview on the Joe Rogan Podcast:
“I think having a culture that celebrates aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive.”
Zuckerberg in this, along with many other statements, sets out his clear position that masculine aggressive energy is to be valued. For a discussion on why this is problematic - see Dr Ashley Morgan’s piece.
I do not believe that the world needs more toxic masculine energy, nor do I believe that aggression is lacking in the world, quite the contrary.
In Jan this year, Zuckerberg announced that Meta would be disbanding its DEI initiatives, presumably to bring his company in line with the Trump administration’s policy position. In an overhaul of Meta’s content moderation policies, Zuckerberg specifically removed the protection against hate speech aimed at the LGBTQIA+ community. The Human Rights Campaign stated:
“Meta’s updated Community Standards now expressly permit users to describe LGBTQ+ people as mentally ill or abnormal and to call for their exclusion from professions, public spaces, and society based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.”
When considering Trans rights, the Human Rights Campaign states:
“Adding insult to injury, the policy employs the term “transgenderism” (see Image 1) a term often wielded by anti-trans activists to delegitimize transgender people. Not only is this word socially and scientifically invalid, but its use in Meta’s Community Standards signals a disturbing alignment with anti-LGBTQ+ political rhetoric.”
Neither of these are positions I agree with. The Queer community, and especially the Trans community, suffers horrendous abuse and vilification and deserves to be protected, encouraged and embraced.
There are a range of academic studies which show the negative impacts of Facebook and Instagram on people’s mental wellbeing and social engagement1. It has been shown to contribute to narcissistic tendencies2 as well as suicidal ideation as a result of cyberbullying3.
As someone who cares deeply about people’s wellbeing, and especially that of younger people, the impact of Facebook and Instagram cannot be ignored.
Finally, I read the recent book by Sarah Wynn-Williams where she recounts her time working at Facebook and her direct encounters with Zuckerberg. In this book, we see a senior leadership team who are utterly devoid of a moral compass - motivated only by greed and self-aggrandisment.
These aren’t people I am comfortable giving any kind of power to.
All of this, taken with the impact that Facebook has on elections around the world, has led me to a place where I don’t feel giving my data to Meta is a morally neutral act - it is enabling the behaviours listed above. Meta can only do what they do because of their wealth, which is based on their users continuing to use their platforms.
So, I have deleted my Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp accounts. If you need me - you can call, text or email. Or, if you are really cool, you can message me via Signal.
This post (Deleting Meta) was last edited 5 months ago.
Footnotes
Miller, Caroline (2021). "Does Social Media Cause Depression?". Child Mind Institute.↩
Reed, Phil (13 September 2019). "Narcissism and Social Media: Should We Be Afraid?". Psychology Today.↩
O'Keefe, Gwenn; Clarke-Pearson, Kathleen (2011). "Clinical Report-The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families". Pediatrics. 127 (800): 800–804.↩