2025 will be a landmark year for digital diplomacy and global governance. Why? This is the year when UN member states will decide on the WSIS+20 review and the future of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). It is also a critical moment in the journey toward achieving the Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are increasingly reliant on digital advancements.
In this issue, we would like to provide you with a couple of important updates on tech policy developments that have occurred so far in 2025.
Meta’s New Approach to Content Moderation
On January 7, Meta announced the end of its third-party fact-checking program in the United States, replacing it with Community Notes to “improve free expression” and reduce “censorship” on its platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Meta’s previous content moderation policy relied on third-party fact-checking organizations to verify the accuracy of shared content across Meta’s platforms. When these organizations deemed content false, Meta reduced its reach to limit exposure by suspending accounts, removing pages, or deleting content.
Zuckerberg argued that the fact-checking organizations were biased and that “too much harmless content gets censored.” Meta acknowledged that spaces allowing free expression can be messy but emphasized that this is part of free speech. Meta has not provided specific details on how Community Notes will work, but Zuckerberg indicated it will resemble X’s (formerly Twitter’s) community note system. In this system, notes appear in “Readers added context” boxes on posts flagged as potentially false or misleading. These notes typically offer clarifications, often linking to credible sources. Only eligible users who opt into the program can add these annotations. Users can also rate notes as “helpful” or “not helpful.” Notes with five or more ratings are subjected to algorithmic evaluation.
The Real Facebook Oversight Board—an independent accountability group composed of academics, lawyers, and civil rights advocates, including early Facebook investor Roger McNamee—criticized Meta’s move, calling it “a retreat from any sane and safe approach to content moderation” and labeling the changes as “political pandering.”
Read more
- Meta’s New Content Policy Will Harm Vulnerable Users. If It Really Valued Free Speech, It Would Make These Changes – Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Meta shift from fact-checking to crowdsourcing spotlights competing approaches in fight against misinformation and hate speech – The Conversation
- Meta’s Content Moderation Changes are Going to Have a Real World Impact. It’s Not Going to be Good. – TechPolicy.Press
Banning TikTok in America
Many Western lawmakers are concerned that TikTok and its parent company could give the Chinese government access to sensitive user data. Under Chinese law, the government can secretly demand data from its citizens and companies for intelligence-gathering purposes. Additionally, there are fears that China could use TikTok’s content recommendation algorithms to spread misinformation or disinformation, a common concern in the U.S.
In April 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This law designates Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia as “foreign adversaries” and restricts the use of social media apps controlled by these countries. As a result, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was given until January 19, 2025, to divest from TikTok.
In May 2024, a legal challenge was filed in federal court contesting the Act’s constitutionality, but TikTok lost its initial attempt to overturn the law. On January 10, 2025 (last Friday), TikTok presented its case before the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices appeared inclined to uphold the law, which would effectively ban TikTok’s operations in the country. Companies like Google and Apple would be prohibited from hosting the app in their U.S. stores, and Internet service providers would be barred from distributing TikTok.
This move by the U.S. led more than half a million “TikTok refugees” to migrate to another Chinese app, Xiaohongshu (also known as “RedNote”). As the case continues to unfold, we expect to see the ripple effects of this prominent shift in the digital world and the broader implications of the ongoing conflict over national security, power, and technology.
Read more
- RedNote: What to know about the Chinese app TikTok users are flocking to – Reuters
- TikTok Users Are Heading To RedNote – But The App Has Similar Issues – Forbes
Written by Ankita Rathi (Reviewed and Edited by Jenna Manhau Fung)