Meta ends fact-checking program in the US and adopts “community” model

Social media giant Meta META.O on Tuesday scrapped its US fact-checking program in favor of a community-based system, similar to X’s, and eased restrictions on debates on contentious topics such as immigration and identity. gender.

The measure represents a shift in Meta’s policy, because Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, had long defended active content moderation, despite criticism from conservatives for alleged censorship on their platforms.

The announcement comes shortly after the company named Republican politician Joel Kaplan as head of global affairs and elected Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and close friend of President-elect Donald Trump, to its board of directors.

“We’ve reached a point where there are too many mistakes and too much censorship. It’s time to get back to our roots around free speech,” Zuckerberg said in a video.

“We’re going to focus on reducing errors, simplifying our policies, and restoring freedom of expression on our platforms. We’re going to fine-tune our content filters to require much more trust before removing content.”

The end of the fact-checking program, which began in 2016, caught some partner organizations by surprise.

“We didn’t know this move was going to happen and it caught us by surprise. This is definitely going to affect us,” said Jesse Stiller, managing editor of Check Your Fact.

Other partners, including Reuters, AFP and USA Today, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta’s independent Supervisory Board welcomed the move.

The latest changes will affect Facebook, Instagram and Threads, three of the largest social media platforms with more than 3 billion users worldwide.

In recent months, Zuckerberg has expressed regret over certain content moderation measures on topics such as COVID-19. Meta also donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, in a change from his previous practice.

“This is a big step back in content moderation at a time when misinformation and harmful content is evolving faster than ever,” said Ross Burley, co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Information Resilience.

“This move seems more like political appeasement than smart policy.”

Community Notes

The success of the measure, however, remains to be seen.

Elon Musk’s X is already being investigated by the European Commission over the spread of illegal content in the EU and the effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation, including the “Community Notes” system.

The Commission launched the investigation in December 2023, several months after X launched the “community notes” feature. Commission spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.

The company has announced that it will begin progressively introducing Community Notes in the United States in the coming months and will improve the model throughout the year.

It will allow users to flag posts that are potentially misleading and need more context, rather than putting the onus on experts and independent fact-checking organizations.

Meta will not decide which Community Notes appear in posts.

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