Facebook culls fact-checkers and mimics Elon Musk in bid to ‘restore’ free speech on social media
How fact-checking has worked on Facebook since 2016
META
Facebook, Instagram, and Threads will no longer be policed by fact-checkers, Mark Zuckerberg has announced.
The most popular social media platforms on the planet will now rely on a crowd-sourced system, similar to Community Notes used on Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter. In a video message, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the calculation behind the sweeping changes: "We're gonna get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms."
Automatic restrictions on controversial topics, like gender identity and immigration, will also be ditched.
Anyone can amend a Community Note to a post on X, formerly Twitter, but it will only be shown publicly after a certain number of users have rated it as useful
X PRESS OFFICE
Since 2016, Meta has relied on a network of external agencies to police the accuracy of information shared across Facebook, Instagram, and most recently, Threads.
More than 90 organisations, including the International Fact-Checking Network, European Fact-Checking Standards Network, as well as smaller groups like PolitiFact and Factcheck.org, worked to fact-check posts in over 60 languages across these platforms.
Fact-checkers did not have the power to remove posts, photos, or videos from Facebook.
When a piece of content was flagged as "false" by any of the fact-checkers, Meta would reduce its distribution — dramatically cutting the number of people who would see it on their News Feed. Posts on Facebook and Instagram would also be labelled as false, with people notified about its status whenever they tried to share it.
Mark Zuckerberg admitted that — to begin with — the switch to a crowd-sourced solution will be less effective at identifying problematic content on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads
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Facebook co-founder Zuckerberg described previous fact-checking efforts as "well-intentioned", but admitted the system had "gone too far".
The Californian technology giant, currently valued at $1.58 trillion, will now abandon its network of third-party fact-checkers in favour of allowing users to add notes to potentially misleading posts.
If that sounds familiar, it's likely because Elon Musk's X platform uses an identical approach. Anyone can contribute a "Community Note" to a post. If enough people rate it as helpful, the note will be shown publicly beneath the post.
Mark Zuckerberg, 40, acknowledged the new system may be less effective at identifying problematic content, stating: "It means that we're going to catch less bad stuff, but we'll also reduce the number of innocent people's posts and accounts that we accidentally take down."
The shake-up is coming to the United States first, with no word on when the community notes-like functionality will be coming to the UK, mainland Europe, or rest of the world. Facebook boasts over 3 billion users globally, making it the most popular social network.
Joel Kaplan — Meta's newly-appointed Head of Global Affairs — said the US company was "too often getting in the way of the free expression we set out to enable."
Referring to its incoming system, he said: “We’ve seen this approach work on X – where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context, and people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see.”
The change follows sustained criticism from Republicans, who have long viewed Meta's fact-checking system as unfair to those on the right of politics. With the introduction of X-like community notes, Meta appears to be aligning itself with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.
Multi-billionaire Zuckerberg met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in November, followed by Meta donating £1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. The company has also appointed Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and former George W Bush advisor, as its new chief global affairs officer, replacing Nick Clegg.
The timing is significant, with the changes announced less than two weeks before Trump's inauguration.
Trump had previously described Meta's Facebook as an "enemy of the people," though the company has since worked to rebuild its relationship with the Republican leader. Meta also confirmed plans to remove restrictions on several controversial topics, including immigration and gender identity.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg left his role at Meta to make way for one of the most visible Republicans working at the company, Joel Kaplan, to takeover as Head of Global Affairs
PRESS ASSOCIATION
"We're getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate," the company stated in a blog post. The company argued that "it's not right that things can be said on TV or the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms".
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These changes reflect a broader shift in Meta's content moderation approach, with Zuckerberg noting that "the recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritising free speech."
The new policies will be implemented gradually over several months, beginning in the United States.
Responding to the shake-up, Chris Morris, Chief Executive of Full Fact, told GB News: "Meta’s decision to end its partnership with fact checkers in the US is disappointing and a backwards step that risks a chilling effect around the world.
"From safeguarding elections to protecting public health to dissipating potential unrest on the streets, fact checkers are first responders in the information environment. Our specialists are trained to work in a way that promotes credible evidence and prioritises tackling harmful information — we believe the public has a right to access our expertise. We absolutely refute Meta's charge of bias — we are strictly impartial, fact check claims from all political stripes with equal rigour, and hold those in power to account through our commitment to truth.
"Like Meta, fact checkers are committed to promoting free speech based on good information without resorting to censorship. But locking fact checkers out of the conversation won’t help society to turn the tide on rapidly rising misinformation.
"Misinformation doesn’t respect borders, so European fact checkers will be closely examining this development to understand what it means for our shared information environment."
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