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It is a pivotal time for the social media landscape. American users have flocked from one platform and will soon be forced off another. One key focus amid these drastic changes in the world of social media is how platforms manage misinformation and political content, particularly as social media’s role in news consumption is expanding. Last week, Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, heightened that focus by announcing it was discontinuing third-party fact-checking and scaling back political content moderation.
How are consumers reacting to these significant policy changes by Meta as its platforms are poised to benefit from the looming TikTok ban? CivicScience has fresh data on the topic:
Americans Are Largely Split, But Meta Finds Strong Support Among Gen Z
Data following the Meta announcement finds respondents are fairly divided in terms of support levels. Just over one-third (36%) say they support Meta’s move toward community-driven fact-checking and the loosening of political content moderation, slightly outpacing those who oppose it (32%, among those aware of the changes). Support is strongest among Gen Z aged 18-24 at 53%, whereas 47% of those 55+ are against the changes.
Meta users are also split on whether the policy changes will affect their platform use: 19% say they’re more likely to use Meta compared to 25% who are now less likely to use a Meta platform. Political divides are sharp, with Republicans more than twice as likely as Democrats to report an increased likelihood of using Meta post-policy changes.
Weigh in: How important is fact-checking to you?
Why Does it Matter?
How Americans get their news and who they trust to ‘deliver unbiased news’ is shifting. The latest tracking data show trust in social media as a source of unbiased news has risen by eight percentage points over the past five years, even as trust in most other sources has slowed or dropped. While social media still has a ways to go to surpass local and broadcast news, if post-2024 election trends continue, it’s plausible that social media could overtake cable network news in the near future. Meta’s policy shifts could serve as a litmus test to see whether this trend of rising trust in social media endures.
The Platforms Users Trust Most
A deeper dive into specific platforms social media users say they trust reveals a clear leader: YouTube. Facebook, and X follow distantly behind while other major platforms lag significantly when it comes to perceived trustworthiness.
Trust in Facebook and Bluesky appears to increase with age, while Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to find video-focused platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, to be most trustworthy. Gen Xers, meanwhile are by far the most likely to trust X and are the least likely to trust YouTube.
Join the Conversation: To what extent do you tend to trust the information you see on social media?
Meta’s policy shifts highlight the delicate balance between fostering free expression and maintaining user trust in an increasingly polarized digital landscape. As generational and political divisions emerge, the response to these changes could signal how social media’s role in news consumption evolves moving forward.
