Following President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential inauguration, media platforms owned by some of the country’s wealthiest individuals underwent shifts in political alignment.
Elon Musk, billionaire entrepreneur and senior advisor to President Donald Trump, has eased content moderation policies on his social media platform, X, leading to a rise in political discourse favoring right-leaning viewpoints.
A study published in PLOS One found that the rate of hate speech on X increased by 50 percent in the months following Musk’s takeover, while bot and bot-like accounts remained at consistent levels.
Musk has drawn attention for advocating the defunding of Wikipedia after the site labeled one of his gestures as a Hitler salute.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is the world’s largest social media platform. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also faced scrutiny for its handling of political content.
Some Facebook users reported that their accounts automatically followed President Trump’s official page after his inauguration. While Meta denied any intentional action, the incident raised concerns over platform neutrality.
According to CBS News, many users believed they were added to follow Trump’s page without consent, though Meta stated that the transition was part of the standard management of official government accounts.
Additionally, Meta’s decision to suspend accounts of abortion pill providers, including Aid Access and Just the Pill, has led to accusations of over-moderation. Meta stated that the moderation was related to policies on drug-related content and not connected to broader speech policies.
A Meta spokesperson told The New York Times, “We prohibit the sale of pharmaceutical drugs without proper certification, and our policies remain unchanged.”
“While enforcement issues exist, we aim to allow more speech and reduce mistakes.”
Google, the most frequently used search engine company in the world, according to Statista, has made adjustments to its platforms as well.
Google Calendar has removed default references to cultural events like Pride Month and Black History Month, a decision that sparked backlash from users. The company said in a statement that the previous approach was unsustainable.
“The calendar team initially added cultural events manually but received feedback about missing events and countries,” the statement said. “Managing hundreds of moments this way wasn’t scalable.”
However, Yahoo reported that critics viewed it as part of a broader trend in platform changes.
Apple, a leading technology company known for its innovative software and hardware products, made a controversial move by renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps following an order from President Trump.
The change, officially recognized by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, was also adopted by Google, which announced that U.S. users would soon see the same update on its services, according to AP News.
TikTok, a social media platform used for making short videos, faced a nationwide ban under Trump’s executive order but received a temporary 75-day delay to find a U.S. buyer. According to NPR, Trump suggested that Musk or Oracle CEO Larry Ellison could be potential buyers.
Meanwhile, users on the platform have reported increased censorship, with live streams and political discussions being flagged or removed at higher rates.
Pat Loller, a comedian, said his satirical video about Musk was flagged, noting, “I’ve never seen this before.”
Danisha Carter, a content creator, claimed her account was suspended after criticizing tech executives’ influence, saying, “This has been very politically targeted.”
Beyond content moderation, financial investments in media infrastructure have also increased, according to the United States Congress’ official website.
According to Reuters, Meta plans to invest between $60 billion and $80 billion in AI development and data centers in 2025.
Zuckerberg called the year a “defining moment for AI,” as the company aims to bring more computing power online, said The Glass Almanac.
Meanwhile, Musk’s X has blocked links to the encrypted messaging platform Signal, raising concerns about platform control and digital privacy. Users reported being unable to share Signal links in direct messages, with error messages labeling the links as malware, Digital Trends confirmed.
Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, has also implemented significant editorial changes at the newspaper.
According to his X account, Bezos directed the opinions section to focus exclusively on “personal liberties and free market principles.”
“Viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others,” Bezos tweeted.
AP News reported that these developments have raised concerns about the freedom of columnists to determine their own topics and express their views without objection from higher-ups.
Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau
