Google searches for deleting Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts have seen an unprecedented surge in the United States, following Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's announcement to end the company's third-party fact-checking system and loosen content moderation policies. This move is seen by experts as an attempt to appease the incoming Trump administration and avoid political backlash.

The consequences of Meta's new policies could have far-reaching implications for the types of posts, hate speech, and misinformation that can spread rapidly across the company's platforms. The backlash has been swift, with interest in searches related to getting off Meta platforms soaring, particularly in the last two days. Google searches for terms like "how to permanently delete Facebook" have hit a maximum score of 100 – the highest level of interest possible on Google Trends.

According to Google Trends, related searches like "how to delete all photos Facebook," "alternative to Facebook," "how to quit Facebook," "how to delete Threads account," and "how to delete Instagram account without logging in" have become breakout searches, with popularity suddenly increasing by over 5,000% compared to previous periods. This explosive growth underscores a recoil against Meta's decision to roll back protections against hateful speech and inflammatory political content.

Meta had put fact-checking and content moderation policies into place after years of misinformation and violent speech proliferating on its platforms, which have caused real-world harm. Case in point, the attempted insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which was fueled by coordinated calls for violence on Facebook and Instagram. Internal documents revealed that Facebook did not act forcefully enough against the Stop the Steal movement pushed by Trump's allies, even though the company had identified ways to diminish the spread of political polarization, conspiracy theories, and incitements to violence.

Meta has also admitted that its platforms were used to incite violence in Myanmar, where members of the Burmese military committed genocide against the Rohingya people. In 2021, Zuckerberg said that the Meta community doesn't "want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services," leading to the company's push to scale back political discourse. Last year, the company also stopped proactively recommending political content to users on Instagram and Threads, a move that was controversial among creators and users. Now Meta will phase back in political content to feeds.

Zuckerberg said that the new policies are an attempt to restore free expression on Meta's platform, parroting comments made by Elon Musk on his platform X. The Meta CEO noted that his platforms would replace third-party fact-checkers with a community notes system akin to X's, in which users can flag posts they think need more context.

Searches for alternatives to Meta have also risen, with Google searches for "Facebook alternatives" skyrocketing, as have searches for Bluesky and Mastodon, two decentralized social media platforms that have been gaining in popularity since Elon Musk took over Twitter and renamed it X. Mastodon's CEO Eugen Rochko spoke out this week about Meta's content moderation changes, calling the changes "a concert to anyone with a conscience." He also noted that users who cross-post from Threads to Mastodon via Threads' fediverse-sharing feature will be monitored on Mastodon for hate speech and violation of the platform's policies.

The mass exodus from Meta's platforms raises concerns about the impact of the company's decision on the spread of misinformation and hate speech. As users flock to alternative platforms, it remains to be seen how these new platforms will address the challenges of content moderation and fact-checking. One thing is certain, however – the consequences of Meta's actions will have far-reaching implications for the tech industry and beyond.