Conservatives Rejoice Over ‘Stunning’ Meta Censorship Announcement: ‘Big Victory for Free Speech’
Conservatives on social media took a victory lap Tuesday in response to the news that Meta had ended its controversial fact-checking practices and pledged to move to a more user-centric system. freedom of speech.
“Target finally admits it censored speech … what a great birthday wake-up call and a big win for free speech,” GOP Sen. Rand Paul posted on X on Tuesday in response to the news, first reported by Fox News Digital, that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting speech restrictions to “restore freedom of expression” on Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s platforms, acknowledging that its current content moderation practices “have gone too far.”
” Jaw-dropping — he specifically says Meta will ‘adopt a community notes system like X has’ because of bias/abuse of fact-checking third parties,” Independent Women’s Forum visiting colleague Lyndsey Fifield published on X in response to Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, Joel Kaplan, who spoke to Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning for an exclusive interview to discuss the changes.
Conservatives reacted with glee on Tuesday, responding to the announcement of the censorship protocol by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, right. (Getty Images)
“Nature heals,” Fifield said.
“There is absolutely no way this would have happened if Trump hadn’t won,” Abigail Jackson, communications director for Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, published on X.
“Here’s the full video of Mark Zuckerberg announcing an end to the politics of censorship and disinformation,” Breaking Points co-host Sagaar Enjeti published on X. “I highly recommend you watch all of it because tonally it’s one of the biggest ‘choices have consequences’ indicators I’ve ever seen.”
“Zuck is committed to cleaning house,” reporter Jordan Schachtel published on X. “Whether you question the motives or not, this is a very real commitment, and it’s good news for speech on the Internet. Of course, it probably can’t be done without a Trump victory.”
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was introduced after the 2016 election and has been used to “manage content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to “political pressure,” executives said, but acknowledged that the system “has gone too far.”
The process has since drawn outrage from conservatives who have accused the platform of politically motivated censorship, pointing to several examples of content being withheld, including a bombshell New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which Zuckerberg admitted Biden’s White House pressured him to do so and later called the move a mistake.
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Meta has ended its controversial fact-checking practice. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)
Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make “too many mistakes” and remove content “that doesn’t even violate our standards.” He also said that there are certain things Meta will continue to moderate, such as posts related to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.
Zuckerberg also noted in his video message on Tuesday that the moderation teams would move from California to Texas, where he suggested there would be “less concern about the bias of our teams.”
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Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., center, arrives after a break during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Kent Nishimura)
“We will return to our roots and focus on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring freedom of expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg said. “Specifically, we’ll get rid of fact-checking tools and replace them with X-like Community Notes, starting in the US”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
