Meta is making a major move back to free speech and ending its third-party fact-checking program
In 2022 Elon Musk has taken over Twitter and they’ve made a number of changes to the platform, including changing the name to X and introducing Community Notes, a feature that allows users to add context or verify facts that might be misleading.
This approach differs from Meta’s model, which relies on independent third-party fact-checking organizations to flag misleading posts on Instagram, Facebook and Threads (a rival to Xu).
However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that Meta will stop working with these organizations and instead implement an X-like Community Notes feature. Zuckerberg also revealed a number of other major changes to the company’s moderation policies and practices, aimed at offering people more freedom of expression.
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Community notes are coming to Meta platforms
Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the social media company would stop working with third-party fact-checking organizations. In the video posted on Instagram and Facebook, Zuckerberg said the company’s approach to moderating content too often resulted in “censorship.”
“After Trump was first elected in 2016, the legacy media continually wrote about how misinformation is a threat to democracy. We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of the truth,” Zuckerberg said. “But the fact-checkers were simply too politically biased and destroyed more trust than they created, especially in the US”
Zuckerberg said that Meta will end its fact-checking program with trusted partners and replace it with a community-driven system similar to X’s Community Notes.
For those who don’t know, Community Notes on X allow users to collectively add context or verify facts that may be misleading. When a tweet is flagged for misinformation or lack of context, users can submit notes that provide additional information or correct inaccuracies.
These notes are then reviewed by other users, who can upvote or downvote contributions based on their helpfulness and accuracy. If the note gets enough support, it becomes visible below the original tweet, offering a balanced view and helping to inform others.
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Meta’s changes sparked a backlash from the fact-checking community
However, independent fact-checkers are not happy with the change.
“Fact-checking journalism has never censored or removed posts; it has added information and context to controversial claims and debunked false content and conspiracy theories. Meta’s fact-checkers follow a code of principles that requires impartiality and transparency,” he said Angie Drobnic Holan, Director of the International Fact-Checking Network.
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Meta also reduces censorship
Zuckerberg also revealed plans to overhaul Meta’s recommendation system, which determines the content shown to users. For years, the company limited political content, citing user feedback and concerns about social media’s influence on beliefs.
“We’ve built a lot of complex systems to moderate content, but the problem with complex systems is that they make mistakes,” Zuckerberg said. “Even if they only accidentally censor 1% of posts, that’s millions of people, and we’ve reached a point where there are just too many mistakes and too much censorship.”
He added that Meta would eliminate some content rules on controversial issues, including immigration and gender, and refocus its automated moderation on what he described as high-severity violations. The company will now have a more personalized approach to political content so that it can be seen by people who want to see more of it in their feeds.
In addition, Facebook will move its trust and safety and content moderation teams from California to Texas. Zuckerberg also said Meta would work with the new Trump administration to promote free speech globally, though he did not provide specific details.
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Meta’s platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, were more heavily moderated compared to platforms like X, which meant less freedom of expression for users. The changes Zuckerberg announced Tuesday aim to relax those rules, allowing people to share their thoughts more freely. That might lead to more offensive content, but that’s a trade-off for more freedom. The introduction of Community Notes is also a good change as it gives users more control rather than handing it over to a small group of people who might be biased towards a particular political party or issue.
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