Meta officially says goodbye to its U.S. fact-checkers on Monday

Meta ends fact-checkers in the U.S., uses Community Notes.

: Meta is discontinuing its U.S.-based fact-checkers from Monday, a decision confirmed by Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer. The shift aligns with policy updates made in January, coinciding with President Trump's inauguration and changes in the company's board membership. Community Notes, inspired by Elon Musk’s X, will serve as a tool for user-driven content moderation instead of professional fact-checking. Critics argue this change might lead to more misinformation, as the company reduces restrictions on various contentious topics.

Meta's decision to eliminate its U.S. fact-checkers takes effect on Monday, as revealed by chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan. This move is part of broader content moderation policy changes initiated in January. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's founder and CEO, attended President Trump's inauguration, which was supported by a $1 million donation from Zuckerberg to Trump's inauguration fund. This period also saw Dana White, UFC's CEO and a known Trump supporter, joining Meta's board of directors.

Zuckerberg emphasized a shift back to prioritizing speech in light of recent cultural changes, stating in a video, “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech.” However, this change in content policy has raised concerns about marginalized communities. Meta's hateful conduct policy acknowledges the allowance of allegations related to mental illness when framed in the context of political and religious discussions on gender and sexual orientation.

Instead of traditional fact-checkers, Meta introduces Community Notes, a system inspired by Elon Musk’s platform X, which involves user participation in content moderation. Kaplan explained on X that Community Notes would start appearing on Facebook, Threads, and Instagram without any punitive measures. This approach may provide additional perspective on problematic posts but might work best alongside other moderation tools that Meta is phasing out.

Declining moderation standards correlate with an uptick in misinformation on the platform. For example, a viral falsehood circulated by a Facebook page manager claimed that ICE would offer $750 to informants on undocumented immigrants. This misinformation spread unchecked following the initial phase-out of fact-checking and was hailed by some users as beneficial information in the absence of more stringent content controls.

Joel Kaplan, in a January statement, highlighted the removal of restrictions on debates over immigration and gender identity, noting, “It’s not right that things can be said on TV or the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms.” Kaplan contends that the new leniency aligns Meta's policies more closely with public political discourse norms.

Sources: New York Times, TechCrunch, The Guardian, ProPublica, Meta

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