Changes that will please Donald Trump’s Republicans. Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of the Meta group (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp) announced significant changes in moderation on its platforms on Tuesday January 7, including, in particular, the end of its fact-checking program in the States -United.
“We are going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community ratingssimilar to [celles disponibles sur le réseau] X, starting with the United States”declared the boss of the group in a message on social networks. “I spoke with the management of Meta France this evening who assure me that this functionality will only be deployed in the United States for the moment”assured on X Clara Chappaz, the Minister Delegate in charge of artificial intelligence and digital technology.
Today, Facebook pays more than 80 media outlets around the world to use their “fact-checks” on its platform, on WhatsApp and on Instagram. But Mark Zuckerberg estimates that “auditors have been too politically oriented and have done more to reduce trust than to improve it, particularly in the United States”.
At the same time, the group should cut back on its moderation policy. Facebook will “end a number of limits on topics, such as immigration and gender, that are no longer in mainstream discourse”explains Mark Zuckerberg, for whom “the recent elections seem to be a cultural tipping point once again prioritizing freedom of expression”. Meta is expected to move its trust and safety teams from California, which is generally more progressive, to Texas, a more conservative state.
The announcement comes as Mark Zuckerberg has stepped up his efforts to curry favor with Donald Trump since his election in November 2024. Meta donated $1 million to the fund financing Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremonies in January, like other tech giants. The group also appointed a loyalist of the billionaire (Joel Kaplan) to head its public affairs, and another (the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White) to its board of directors.
Donald Trump was suspended from Facebook after the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but his account was reactivated at the beginning of 2023. Meta had also decided, in 2021, to reduce the place of political content on its platforms, while the Republicans and their support Elon Musk, owner of the X platform, have repeatedly complained about fact-checking programs, which they equate to censorship.
“This is a major setback for content moderation policy, at a time when misinformation and dangerous content are changing faster than ever.”worried Russ Burley, the co-founder of the Center for Information Resilience (CIR), an NGO which documents attacks on human rights and democracy. “Efforts to protect freedom of expression are essential, but backing away from fact-checking without a credible alternative opens the door to a flood of even more dangerous content”he insisted.
