Google searches on how to delete Instagram, Facebook and Threads grow after Meta moderation changes

Google searches related to how to delete Facebook, Instagram and Threads accounts have increased in the United States since Meta announced a change in its content moderation policies, as TechCrunch recently verified.

The firm said this Monday that it would adopt a content verification system based on community notes, with an eye toward the one currently used by the social network X, to combat misinformation in its services.

Since 2016, Meta has had a team of independent information verifiers, who review the content shared through its social networks and rate it according to its accuracy through different detailed and original reports.

However, the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, signaled a change in approach earlier this week, which would see him add notes from the community. In his opinion, “they will be more effective than fact checkers”, so he will adopt changes to the moderation system to “reduce the number of people whose accounts are mistakenly banned.”

These modifications will be accompanied by a new regulation on ‘Hate Conduct’ in the United States’ usage rules, which eliminates restrictions on issues such as immigration or gender identity, among others.

This set of measures has resulted in an increase in Google searches related to questions about how to delete Instagram, Facebook and Threads accounts in this country, as TechCrunch has verified through Google Trends.

Some of the searches commented on by this medium include phrases such as “how to delete Facebook permanently”, which have reached a maximum score of 100, that is, the highest possible level on Google’s analytics platform.

Other searches that have multiplied since Zuckerberg announced this change in perspective are ‘how to delete all photos from Facebook’‘alternative to Facebook’, ‘how to delete an Instagram account without logging in’ and ‘how to leave Facebook’.

These days, queries on Google for ‘alternatives to Facebook’ have also skyrocketed, as well as those related to the Bluesky and Mastodon platforms, two social networks that also have increased their number of registrations since Elon Musk acquired X.

Mastodon CEO Eugene Rochko has acknowledged in his personal profile on this platform that Meta’s policy changes are “deeply concerning” and that “should be a concern for anyone with a conscience.” With this, the manager has “strongly recommended anyone who has an account on Threads to reconsider their alignment with the new direction of Meta and move to Mastodon.”