The researchers used a trained AI system to identify comments in the data set that were likely to violate Meta’s current policies in three areas: violence and incitement, hateful conduct or intimidation, and harassment.
Comments that violated Meta’s policies around violent threats quadrupled, from 1,800 in the six months before the changes to 7,600 in the six months after. Hate comments also quadrupled, from 6,900 to 30,000. Comments that violated Meta’s bullying and harassment rules doubled, from 15,700 to 39,900.
“We regularly issue public reports tracking infringing content on our platforms, and the prevalence of hateful conduct did not increase throughout 2025,” a Meta spokesperson tells WIRED, adding that the company couldn’t address the report’s claims directly without seeing the investigation in its entirety. WIRED provided a list of the abusive comments cited in the report, but Meta did not comment on them. Hours before the report was published, many of the examples were removed from Facebook.
“When companies reduce oversight in areas like violence, hate, and harassment, it should be no surprise that those harms increase,” said Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, in a statement to CCDH.
The data collected by CCDH researchers is reflected in the Meta report. own transparency reports starting in 2025, showing how the company cut its proactive content moderation enforcement by about half in the months following its policy changes. “The rise in abuses and the collapse of law enforcement follow each other almost exactly,” the report’s authors write.
