In January 2025, Meta announced significant safeguarding changes to its platforms. Third-party fact-checking in the U.S. would be abandoned, in favor of crowdsourced community notes. Content moderation would be relaxed on political topics, such as immigration and gender identity. The definition of dehumanizing speech would be narrowed, increasing the likelihood that previously banned content and people would now be deemed acceptable. And the diversity, equality, and inclusion team would be disbanded.
The ‘why’ is a black box. The changes could be a naked attempt by Meta to curry favor with the current U.S. administration. Maybe they’re a firewall against plummeting ad revenue. Or perhaps it’s just Mark Zuckerberg’s own ‘firewall’ glitching and revealing his true nature. The result is the same, though: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads are set to become petri dishes for digital contagion.
It’s unclear how much damage these changes will cause. But we’re now looking at platforms where it will be permissible to argue LGBTQ individuals are ‘mentally ill’ or refer to women as ‘household objects’. The result? A likely increase in misinformation, hate speech, and toxicity, and a huge negative impact on marginalized communities, who will no longer feel safe or welcome.
Cutting ties with Meta
A Facebook feed of junk.
Whether you’re part of such a community or not, you may decide Meta is no longer something you wish to be associated with. Indeed, recent months have seen a steady flow of people closing their accounts. However, we also live in a world where Meta acquired the very connective tissue of online interaction. This company is now dominant to the point it’s entrenched in so much of what billions of people do online.
Where does that leave a typical iPhone user, if they’re keen to stop using Meta apps and services, but not lose vital online connections? Are there methods and apps that can replace the likes of Facebook and Instagram? And are those platforms any better if your reasoning for moving on from Meta is based around personal morals?
The answer is: it depends. The network effect dictates the products we use online. We go where other people go and tend towards spaces that reduce friction and free up time. Tasks are outsourced. Individuals rely on Facebook to tell them when a friend’s birthday is and to post a message. School and neighborhood groups flourish on WhatsApp. Removing yourself from such things could translate to social invisibility. And attempting to have others migrate to a different space is unlikely to be successful.
Alternatives to Meta apps
NetNewsWire.
Short of ditching everything Meta and living with the consequences, you can opt for a deliberate, strategic disengagement. Facebook’s main feed is now a chaotic algorithmic slurry of ads and curated outrage. So replace its attempts at news provision with the unfiltered precision of an RSS reader like NetNewsWire, pulling in headlines from sources you trust. And the social network component? Try Bluesky, which has the energy of an early Twitter but is owned and run by people who aren’t tech bros.
For personal communication, revert to the tried and tested. Migrate birthdays to Calendar and have it set reminders. Use Amato to remind you to regularly stay in touch with friends, and use Messages, FaceTime, or even an old-school phone call to contact them, rather than WhatsApp or Messenger. Short-form video? There are so many non-Facebook options, from Tumblr to YouTube – and RSS can again free you from algorithms, allowing you to focus on what you want to see.
Some group chats may well survive in WhatsApp and Messenger. But at least you’ll have minimized your footprint an excised a chunk of your Meta self. And if you want to hold the line, delete the apps and use Unhabit to force a glacial countdown before the web versions of Meta services and websites open. Those precious seconds may make even the most compulsive scroller reconsider. They’ll then perhaps spend more time using apps or services that may not necessarily have the betterment of humanity at their heart, but at least aren’t setting the stage to make things worse for millions of people.