Meta to ditch fact-checking on Facebook, Instagram, Threads for X-style community notes

Social media company Meta Platforms is scrapping its US fact-checking program and reducing curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity.

The owner of Facebook, Instagram and Threads is bowing to criticism from conservatives as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for a second time.

The move is Meta’s biggest overhaul of its approach to managing political content on its services in recent memory and comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg has signalled a desire to mend fences with the incoming administration.

The changes will affect Facebook, Instagram and Threads, three of the world’s biggest social media platforms with more than three billion users globally.

Last week, Meta elevated Republican policy executive Joel Kaplan as global affairs head and on Monday announced it had elected Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a close friend of Trump, to its board.

“We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship. It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” Zuckerberg said in a video.

He acknowledged the role of the recent US elections in his thinking, saying they “feel like a cultural tipping point, towards once again prioritising speech”.

In place of a formal fact-checking program to address dubious claims posted on Meta’s platforms, Zuckerberg instead plans to implement a system of “community notes” similar to that used on Elon Musk-owned X.

Meta also would focus its automated systems on removing “high-severity violations” and illegal content such as terrorism and illicit drugs, Zuckerberg said.

It will stop proactively scanning for hate speech and other types of rule-breaking, and review such posts only in response to user reports.

The demise of the fact-checking program, started in 2016, caught partner organisations by surprise.

“We didn’t know that this move was happening and it comes as a shock to us. This is definitely going to affect us,” said Jesse Stiller, managing editor at Check Your Fact.

The head of the International Fact-Checking Network, Angie Drobnic Holan, challenged Zuckerberg’s characterisation of its members as biased or censorious.

“Fact-checking journalism has never censored or removed posts; it’s added information and context to controversial claims, and it’s debunked hoax content and conspiracies. The fact-checkers used by Meta follow a Code of Principles requiring non-partisanship and transparency,” she said in a statement.

Kristin Roberts, Gannett Media’s chief content officer, said “truth and facts serve everyone - not the right or the left - and that’s what we will continue to deliver.”

“We’ve learned the news as everyone has today. It’s a hard hit for the fact-checking community and journalism. We’re assessing the situation,” AFP said in an emailed response to Reuters.

Other partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Reuters declined to comment. Meta’s independent Oversight Board welcomed the move.

Zuckerberg in recent months has expressed regret over certain content moderation actions on topics including COVID-19. Meta also donated $US1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, in a departure from its past practice.

“This is a major step back for content moderation at a time when disinformation and harmful content are evolving faster than ever,” said Ross Burley, co-founder for non-profit Centre for Information Resilience.

“This move seems more about political appeasement than smart policy.”

For now, Meta is only planning the changes for the US market, with no immediate plans to end its fact-checking program in places like the European Union that take a more active approach to regulation of tech companies, a spokesperson told Reuters.

“They have come a long way - Meta. The man (Zuckerberg) was very impressive,” Trump said when asked about the company’s plan to end fact-checking.

He said Zuckerberg was probably responding to threats made to him.

Musk’s X is already under European Commission investigation over dissemination of illegal content in the EU and the effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation, including the “Community Notes” system.

Meta said it would start phasing in Community Notes in the US over the next couple of months and improve the model over the year.

It will allow users to call out posts that are potentially misleading and need more context, rather than placing the responsibility on independent fact-checking organisations and experts.

Meta said it would not intervene in the adding of Community Notes to posts on its platforms.