Meta seemed to be blocking links to Pixelfeddecentralized photo-sharing platform on Facebook, according to both Bluesky users And 404 Media. A small group of messages related to “Pixelfed.socialwas removed, using Facebook's Community Standards for Spam as an excuse.
When asked for comment, a Meta spokesperson said the removal of the posts was a mistake and that they would be reinstated.
Pixelfed runs on the ActivityPub protocol and is part of a broader “federation” of decentralized publishing platforms. It's a lot like Instagram, allowing you to share, like and comment on images, but since it's in ActivityPub, your posts can show up in other apps or be moved to completely different photo sharing options if you so choose. Meta is gradually introducing parts of ActivityPub into Threads, allowing posts to be published to Threads and Mastodon. at the same timeFor example.
The timing of these deletions is enough to make anyone suspicious. Meta just announced quite drastic changes about how he plans to moderate speech on his platforms. Last week, the company decided to end its third-party fact-checking program and change its policies on hateful behavior. The company's relaxed standards now allow speech that would be designated as hate speech under any normal circumstances. on what basis Wired managed to dig it up.
It's not unreasonable to think that in response, users might consider switching to an alternative like Pixelfed, and the platform has done just that. share on Saturday that he is “seeing unprecedented levels of traffic on Pixelfed.social.” It is also not unreasonable to assume that the new right-wing Meta may be proactively blocking its competitors. just like X did with links to Mastodon and Substack.