Meta’s move to scrap fact-checking is ‘transformative’ but won’t protect against legal action, experts say
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to end cooperation with Facebook third-party fact-checkers and easing some content restrictions is a potentially “transformative” moment for the platform, experts said, but is unlikely to shield the company from liability in ongoing legal proceedings.
The updates were announced by Zuckerberg, who said in a video that previous content restrictions used on Facebook and Instagram — which were put in place after the 2016 election — “went too far” and allowed too much political bias from outside fact-checkers.
Meta will now replace that system with a “Community Notes”-style program, similar to the approach of social media platform X, he said. X is owned by Elon Muskco-director of the planned Department for Government Efficiency.
“We’ve gotten to a point where there’s just too much error and too much censorship,” Zuckerberg said. “The recent election also feels like a cultural tipping point toward re-prioritizing speech. So we’re going back to our roots, focusing on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring freedom of expression on our platforms.”
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, arrives for a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 31, 2024 in Washington, DC (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The news was praised by President-elect Donald Trump, who told Fox News Digital that he thinks Meta’s presentation “was excellent.” “They’ve come a long way,” Trump said.
Still, it is unlikely to ease legal liability for Meta, which has been hit in recent months by the prospect of a multibillion-dollar class-action lawsuit stemming from a privacy scandal involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.
Supreme Court in November rejected Meta’s attempt to block the lawsuit, upholding an appeals court ruling that allowed the class action to proceed.
The target has also been the target of multiple investigations led by Republicans in Congress. Republicans on the House Armed Services Subcommittee examined Meta’s activity and communications with the federal government and the Biden administration last year as part of a broader investigation into alleged censorship.
The platform also came under scrutiny from the House Oversight Committee in August, as part of the investigation to claims that the platform covered up information about the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologizes to families harmed by insecure social media during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Combined, these factors make it unlikely that Meta’s legal troubles will go away anytime soon, the law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley said Fox News Digital in an interview.
“Facebook now has a tough road ahead,” he said. “Not only do Republicans hold both houses of Congress as well as the White House, but there’s also a pending social media lawsuit in Texas.”
Additionally, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court is as well he is unlikely to be sympathetic to Meta’s views in any case aimed at protecting the First Amendment and the right to free speech.
House investigations and court cases have brought more of Meta’s actions into the public eye — something Turley says he expects will come under further scrutiny in the discovery process in Missouri v. Biden, a case that centers on allegations of political censorship.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, arrives to testify before a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis,” in Washington, DC on January 31, 2024. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
“That discovery is still revealing new details,” Turley said. “Thus, Meta understands that more details about its censorship program will be released in the coming months.”
However, he said, this “could be a transformative moment,” Turley said.
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“And Zuckerberg’s alliance with [Elon] Musk could turn the tide on this one the fight over freedom of speech” Turley said. “And as one of Zuckerberg’s most vocal critics, I welcome him to this fight.”
