Meta will officially end its fact-checking program in the United States, as declared by CEO Mark Zuckerberg back in January.
In a statement, Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan revealed that no further fact checks or fact checkers would henceforth be commissioned domestically. While the initiative was created with noble intentions, open discussions on delicate matters tended to descend into hostile squabbles that left most unsatisfied.
Moving ahead, the organization will prioritize amplifying meticulously researched accounts from reliable journalists and arm citizens with insights to make sagacious choices on partisan and societal matters carrying profound implications for the country.
“In place of fact checks, the first Community Notes will start appearing gradually across Facebook, Threads & Instagram, with no penalties attached,” added Joel Kaplan.
Meta stunned observers in January by announcing a major shift in its policy on severe misinformation and its content oversight regime. Simultaneously, Mark Zuckerberg, the company's founder and chief executive, lifted constraints on what users may share on the platform.
The coincidence of these watershed changes with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, which Zuckerberg attended after donating a sizable sum to the inauguration fund, did not go unnoticed. Around this same juncture, Zuckerberg welcomed Dana White, a long-standing ally of the president and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to Meta's oversight body.
"While the recent democratic process signaled openness to unrestricted expression, prioritizing certain speech often silences already disempowered voices," Zuckerberg cautiously acknowledged in a video outlining moderation adjustments.
While Mark Zuckerberg seems intent on allowing certain discussions, permitting such discourse often disadvantages already vulnerable groups. However well-intentioned, not all speech can avoid unintended harm.
A diversity of perspectives, when expressed with empathy, tolerance and care for how words affect others, tends to bring people together rather than push them apart.
Progress happens through open and honest understanding, not denial of lived experiences or dismissal of legitimate concerns. No policy can prevent all offenses, but a spirit of compassion can guide even the most difficult debates toward mutually agreeable solutions.
Meta's step towards halting US fact-checking, coupled with loosening content policies and Zuckerberg's Trump affiliation, is dangerous because it will amplify disinformation and mute minority voices.
Replacing fact-checked expertise with notes from a community, for the sake of free discussion, threatens to make unverified personal opinion more desirable than fact. Mention of emphasizing "reliable journalists" opens an eye into optimism, yet overall change betrays a potentially less moderated, more polarizing web.