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Meta is borrowing a page from Elon Musk’s X on free speech and censorship, but advertisers haven’t hit the panic button yet.
For now, they decried Meta’s decision to scrap its US fact-checking program in favor of a System X-like community notes system and loosen restrictions on contentious topics like immigration and gender identity.
Instead, marketers are in wait-and-see mode, hoping for clearer guidance on what content Meta will still review. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has so far offered them little more than vague reassurances, leaving details up in the air.
What is clear, however, is that this is Meta’s most significant shake-up of its political content policy in years, coinciding with Zuckerberg’s apparent effort to mend fences with the incoming Trump administration. In doing so, Zuckerberg is hewing to Musk’s playbook of laissez-faire — not surprising, given Musk’s new role as a Trump adviser.
Digiday marketers have spoken out to say they understand this political calculus, even if they’re not entirely on board. But they question its broader implications for how people interact on Meta platforms. Will curbs on censorship and fewer controls on disinformation create room for open dialogue? Or will these platforms turn into battlegrounds where the lines between discourse and chaos blur, while heated debates and uncontrolled narratives thrive?
Critics might call it alarmist, dismissing the concerns as a backlash against the dismantling of the left-leaning control apparatus that has shaped the digital landscape in recent years. Still, Musk’s X serves as a cautionary tale. Far from curtailing disinformation, the disinformation approach has amplified it, turning his platform into a battleground where truth and fiction collide, with attention—not accuracy—deciding the winner.
“At some point, brands will have to decide whether reach is more important than their own alignment with the general sentiment that has begun to metastasize on these platforms,” said Stephen Beck, founder and CEO of media agency Engine Digital.
When advertisers faced similar concerns with X, those concerns snowballed, leading many to pull back on spending altogether. But Meta is a different beast. Unlike X, Meta has always been commercially driven and seen as a much better advertising platform, so advertisers are unlikely to abandon it so quickly, even if the stakes continue to rise.
“I expect Meta to make sure the rhetoric is far from what we typically see on X,” said Jeremy Goldman, senior director of marketing, business and technical briefings at eMarketer. “We noticed that when Meta started limiting political ads and ‘problem’ ads – it’s so big that they want to avoid headaches that aren’t worth it.”
It’s not worth the headaches for business people either. Meta’s scale makes it too valuable to just give up, and they’ve long recognized that social media is a messy palace for brand building. What really matters is making sure their ads aren’t exposed to inappropriate or harmful content. As for the controversial conversations surrounding them? That’s just the cost of doing business in the digital age.
“The question is whether the company’s ads are running next to the offensive content,” said Jim Misener, president of the 50,000-foot consultancy.
However, this debate may intensify in the coming months around Threads. After all, this “muskification” of the Meta stands in stark contrast to Threads’ original promise. When Threads launched in July 2023, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, who oversees Threads, described it as a “less angry space” for sharing ideas. But now that vision seems increasingly out of reach as Meta’s broader strategy shifts toward Musk’s more volatile model.
“This will fundamentally change Threads’ USP,” said James Kirkham, co-founder of consultancy Iconic. “This was an alternative. It was a softer, warmer, friendlier place. The changes Zuckerberg is talking about [are] will definitely erode that key distinction.”
Meta’s pivot toward Musk’s playbook signals the beginning of a new chapter in one of the most relevant media narratives—a chapter defined by the erosion of traditional gatekeeping and the rise of platforms that prioritize engagement over accountability.
Call it the muskification of the media: a world where virality trumps truth and platforms increasingly shape public discourse without the burden of oversight. In this new era, the challenge is not just brand safety for marketers, but navigating an increasingly unpredictable environment. They must weigh the value of reach against the risks and rewards of platforms that define culture in such uncharted ways.
