Astop fact-checking [au sens d’une vérification par des journalistes tiers d’une information déjà publiée] in a time of massive misinformation, it's a bit like dismantling the Los Angeles fire station in a big fire: nothing says that the station would have been enough to contain the fire, but it's certainly depriving yourself of a valuable and proven response tool.
However, this is the decision that Meta took, first in the United States, as a possible prelude to a shutdown throughout the world. The world's first fact-checking network, established largely thanks to the financial support of Meta, with 150 journalists dedicated to it full time in around thirty countries in 26 languages, Agence France-Presse (AFP) is primarily concerned by this about-face.
If the decision was surprising, it did not come out of nowhere: it has been two years now since the efforts of digital platforms in the fight against disinformation have been reduced. Dismantling of the “trust and security” teams, rehabilitation of previously censored accounts, general relaxation of the rules, etc., everything indicated that the platforms felt less pressure being exerted on them.
Bias and manipulation
Was it really necessary, by disconnecting the activity, to denigrate it as a politically biased activity and the cause of a loss of confidence in the media, after having praised its effectiveness for years in all in-house communications? Talking about fact-checking organizations “censorship cartel” is misleading, since the platforms are the only ones free to decide what they do with fact-checks, not to mention that these are only restrictions on the freedom to amplify falsehood.
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Brag instead “community notes”which are the product of a popular vote and not of independent professional work, is unnecessarily vexatious and part of the ongoing work of undermining factual journalism: the volunteer notes can be a useful addition, but they are incomplete and particularly prone to bias and manipulation.
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