Is this the end of the Big Tech censorship industrial complex?

The vibe shift is real. Yes, all the chatter about the re-election of Donald Trump causing a cultural sea change in American life might just have something to it – if Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shock announcement is anything to go by.

In a five-minute video, Zuck – who also appears to have undergone a Gen Z makeover – has announced that Facebook and Instagram will be scaling back their censorship rules, especially when it comes to contentious topics like ‘immigration and gender’. Those who draw up their ‘content policies’ will now be based in Texas, rather than California, to allay conservatives’ concerns about political bias. ‘Expert’ fact-checkers will be swapped for X-style ‘community notes’, too. Indeed, he namechecks X explicitly, making clear he plans to emulate Elon Musk’s more anti-censorship model.

Zuckerberg also mentions Trump, saying he intends to ‘work with’ the incoming president to oppose attempts by foreign governments to force US companies to censor their users.