After visiting President-elect Donald J. Trump in November, Mr. Zuckerberg decided to relax Meta’s speech policies. He asked a small team to carry out his goals within weeks. The repercussions are just beginning.

Mark Zuckerberg dismissed concerns about users leaving Meta platforms in response to the company's decision to end its U.S. fact-checking program, saying any exits would be "virtue signaling." In a reply on Threads to a user's post criticizing Meta's influence and suggesting that people feel trapped on the platform,

I'm counting on these changes actually making our platforms better," Zuckerberg wrote on Threads, the X-like social media site owned by Meta.