Meta to remove fact-checkers
Meta is dumping independent fact-checkers on Instagram and Facebook, similar to what X (earlier Twitter) did, replacing them with “community notes” where users’ comments decide the accuracy of a post.
On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg in a video said third-party moderators were "too politically biased" and it was "time to get back to our roots around free expression".
Tech executives are trying to build better relations with the new US President Donald Trump who will take oath this month, the new move is a step in that direction.
Republican Party and Meta
The Republican party and Trump have called out Meta for its fact-checking policies, stressing it censors right-wing voices on its platform.
After the new policy was announced, Trump said in a news conference he was pleased with Meta’s decision to have "come a long way".
Online anti-hate speech activists expressed disappointment with the shift, claiming it was motivated by a desire to align with Trump.
“Zuckerberg's announcement is a blatant attempt to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration – with harmful implications. Claiming to avoid "censorship" is a political move to avoid taking responsibility for hate and disinformation that platforms encourage and facilitate,” said Ava Lee of Global Witness. This organization sees itself as trying to bring big tech like Meta accountable.
Copying X
The present fact-checking program of Meta was introduced in 2016, it sends posts that seem false or misleading to independent fact-checking organizations to judge their credibility.
Posts marked as misleading have labels attached to them, giving users more information, and move down in viewers’ social media feeds. This will now be replaced by community notes, starting in the US. Meta has no “immediate plans” to remove third-party fact-checkers in the EU or the UK.
The new community notes move has been copied from platform X, which was started after Elon Musk bought Twitter.
It includes people with opposing opinions agreeing on notes that provide insight or explanation to disputed posts.
We will allow more speech by lifting restrictions on some topics that are part of mainstream discourse and focusing our enforcement on illegal and high-severity violations. We will take a more personalized approach to political content, so that people who want to see more of it in their feeds can.
