Summary
- Meta is shutting down its fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram and replacing it with a Community Notes system similar to the one on X.
- The new Community Notes system will rely on user contributions for moderation, and anyone can apply to participate.
- This move is framed as a return to promoting free speech and a response to political pressure.
Getting a post fact-checked or outright banned on Facebook has turned into a bit of a running joke. Meta’s fact-checkers have terrorized Facebook and Instagram for several years, spawning an entire ecosystem of memes about it, but those days have come to an abrupt end after Meta announced it is shutting them down.
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The third-party fact-checking program Meta uses in the US will be replaced with a Community Notes system similar to the one found on X (via TechCrunch). The change was announced in a video posted by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, with more details following in a blog post from Meta’s global affairs chief Joel Kaplan.
Zuck suddenly cares about free expression
Mark Zuckerberg explained that the fact-checking program, launched in the wake of Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, had become too intrusive and prone to errors. He pointed out some of the fact-checkers had a political bias that often led to the censorship of legitimate political speech. The new Community Notes model, inspired by X’s system, will rely on users from different perspectives to add context to misleading posts.
Meta’s leadership framed the move as a return to its original mission of promoting free speech. Zuckerberg noted that Facebook has been under immense pressure from the US and foreign governments over the past four years to censor speech. He acknowledged that over-enforcement and faulty algorithms had led to user frustration.
Community Notes will phase in over the next few months across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. It will replace intrusive fact-check warnings with less obtrusive labels. Users can sign up to become contributors and participate in moderation decisions similar to what is found on X.
Political timing or coincidence?
This shift coincides with the political transition in the US. Incoming President Donald Trump calls himself a free speech advocate and promises to crack down on overly censorious big tech companies, real or imagined. Zuckerberg may be trying to avoid the wrath of the new administration, or it could be a genuine desire to relax moderations.
Zuckerberg said Meta will focus its automated systems on high-severity violations like terrorism, human trafficking, and fraud. Kaplan acknowledged that up to 20% of past content removals were made in error. The trust and safety teams will also be moved from California to Texas.
