Facebook is removing stories about pornographic ads
404 Media model and access
- Some commenters strongly endorse supporting 404 Media financially, citing a track record of impactful investigations and a worker-owned model.
- Others feel $100/year is too high, especially for people arriving via a single story.
- There’s debate over whether the site is “paywalled” vs just requiring email sign-in, which is justified as anti-scraping. Archive links are shared as a workaround.
HN flagging behavior and meta-moderation
- The submission was quickly flagged off the HN front page, prompting suspicion of Meta PR or politically motivated flagging.
- HN moderation reports that flagging patterns looked “normal,” with no obvious corporate/political clustering; the original title was considered baiting and was softened.
- Some suggest requiring flaggers to select reasons to improve transparency; HN moderation worries this would add bureaucracy and might not reveal true motives.
- Several users note that many worthwhile stories get buried by flags and recommend RSS or alternate front-ends that show posts chronologically.
Meta’s treatment of pornographic content and ads
- Central complaint: Meta allegedly removes user posts about porn/scammy ads while allowing similar or identical imagery in paid ads, seen as blatant hypocrisy prioritizing ad revenue over user rules.
- Some argue sex, porn, and prostitution are not inherently bad and that sex-positivity is preferable to puritanism; others see commodified porn as socially harmful.
- Many emphasize that the issue is unequal enforcement: advertisers vs users, not the moral status of sex itself.
- Users report seeing increasing amounts of soft- or hard-core porn, suggestive “reels,” and OnlyFans-style content, often hard to tune out even with blocking/reporting.
- Reports of porn or scam ads frequently result in “no violation” responses, reinforcing perceptions that Meta tolerates revenue-generating abuse.
Broader censorship and ad-fraud concerns
- A national CERT recounts that Facebook auto-removed posts linking to their ad-fraud report about Meta/Google, then even removed posts discussing the removals and banned some accounts; issue was later resolved after escalation.
- Some see this as overzealous automated systems; others suspect coordinated mass-reporting and defensive behavior when platforms are criticized.
Free speech, “public square,” and regulation
- Commenters contrast Meta’s public “free speech” rhetoric with its willingness to censor criticism and treat users and advertisers differently.
- Several argue that platforms invoke the “digital town square” metaphor to gain legitimacy while avoiding the accountability and regulation that would accompany being treated like a public utility.
- There is disagreement over whether earlier political moderation at Meta was voluntary or coerced by governments; one commenter directly challenges claims of “extortion” as unsupported.
Quitting Meta and network effects
- Some advocate simply abandoning Facebook/Instagram; others say they already have, but Meta persists due to billions of remaining users and aggressive data collection (including shadow profiles and AI bots).
- Network effects and practical dependencies (e.g., school parent groups, messaging with non-technical friends/family) make quitting costly, especially for parents and older users.
- A minority argues that giving up on changing behavior is itself the problem; others admit they “moved on” to other life priorities.
Moderation difficulty and pessimism about social media
- Several comments stress that large-scale moderation is inherently hard: balancing legality (e.g., CSAM), user safety, advertiser demands, and diverse norms is nearly impossible.
- One view holds that any large online social platform will inevitably degenerate into a “cesspool” due to the nature of the medium.
- Others fantasize about publicly funded or civic social platforms (e.g., by public broadcasters) or more offline, in-person communities, but also note existing public forums already struggle with low-quality discourse.