Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement to “restore free expression” on Meta’s platforms is the kind of grandstanding headline that makes Silicon Valley publicists salivate. It has all the ingredients of a good PR blitz: vague promises, a buzzword-laden initiative, and just enough controversy to keep people talking. But peel back the layers of this so-called revolution, and the reality looks closer to the same old Facebook than people may expect to be present under such a “free speech” push.
The central irony here is that even as Zuckerberg trumpets his free-expression bonafides, Meta’s rulebook still reads like a corporate novella on what you can’t say. Sure, some restrictions on “politically sensitive topics” are loosening, but don’t get too comfortable. The prohibition on “dehumanizing” language, for example, remains resolutely intact.
