FIRST ON FOX: The target ends its fact-checking program and the lifting of speech restrictions to “restore freedom of expression” on Facebook, Instagram and the Meta platforms, admitting that its current content moderation practices “have gone too far.”
“We will return to our roots and focus on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms,” CEO Meta Mark Zuckerberg he said in a video released Tuesday morning. “Specifically, we’ll get rid of fact-checking tools and replace them with X-like Community Notes, starting in the US”
Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, will be on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning for an exclusive interview to discuss the changes.
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.”
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Mark Zuckerberg is pictured at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on January 31, 2024. (Kent Nishimura)
“We went to independent third-party fact-checkers,” Kaplan said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “It became clear that there is too much political bias in what they decide to fact-check because, basically, they have to fact-check everything they see on the platform.”
Kaplan told Fox News Digital that Meta is “discontinuing that completely” and will replace it with a “Community Notes” model similar to that used on Xu, formerly Twitter.
“Instead of going to some so-called expert, it instead relies on the community and people on the platform to make their own comment on something they’ve read,” Kaplan explained, noting that if a note gets support from “the broadest cross-section of users,” that note can be attached content for others to see.
“We think that’s a much better approach than relying on so-called experts who bring their own biases to the program,” Kaplan said.
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Kaplan also told Fox News Digital that Meta is changing some of its own content moderation rules, particularly those it feels are “too restrictive and don’t allow enough discourse on sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.”
“We want to make sure that discourse can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free expression. And we’re not just changing the rules, we’re actually changing the way we enforce the rules.”
Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting speech restrictions to “restore freedom of expression” on Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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.
But as for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital that the company now has a “real opportunity.”
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“We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a big supporter of freedom of expression,” Kaplan said, referring to the incoming Trump administration. “It brings us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.”
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer/File)
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in which he acknowledged that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, particularly regarding content about COVID and even content like satire and humor.
“The thing is, as American companies, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the United States government pressuring American companies to take down content, it’s just open season for those governments to do more pressure [on their companies]” Kaplan explained. “We think it’s a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and to work on free expression at home.”
Kaplan also said Meta sees “opportunities to partner” with the Trump administration, not only on issues of freedom of expression but also in “advancing American business and America’s technological advantage.”
“These are issues of great importance to Meta and our sector,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals.”
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Meanwhile, Meta also said it plans to take a more personalized approach to political content, so users who want to see more posts of that type can do so.
Meta said it would refocus its efforts on enforcing “illegal and serious violations.”
