No turning back: Facebook reckons with a post-2020 world

It’s becoming increasingly clear that for Facebook, there is no returning to its habits of the past.

Some of its most dramatic post-election changes, from algorithm tweaks to a strict crackdown on political misinformation, were supposed to be temporary — “ break-glass ” measures intended to prevent civil unrest as then-President Donald Trump spread false claims of a “rigged” election.

But the Jan. 6 insurrection, the rise in COVID vaccine misinformation and the persistent spread of malicious conspiracies — coupled with a new U.S. president and growing regulatory scrutiny around the world — have forced a reckoning at the social network.