The group Metawhich owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, will put end its fact-checking program.
“We are going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes, similar to X (ex-Twitter), starting with the United States”said Mark Zuckerberg in a message on social networks.
“The auditors were too politically oriented and have contributed more to reducing confidence than to improving it, particularly in the United States.he clarified.
“Tipping point”
Meta’s announcement comes as Republicans and the owner of rival social network X, Elon Musk, have repeatedly complained about fact-checking programs, which they liken to censorship.
“The recent elections appear to be a cultural tipping point once again prioritizing freedom of expression,” estimated the boss of Meta.
At the same time, the group should review and “simplify” its rules regarding content on all of its platforms and “end a number of limits on topics, such as immigration and gender, that are no longer in mainstream discourse”.
Zuckerberg tried to seduce Trump
Mark Zuckerberg has made numerous gestures towards President-elect Donald Trump, notably via a million dollar donation for the fund financing the mandate’s inauguration ceremonies, scheduled for January 20.
The Republican candidate had been particularly critical of Meta and his boss in recent years, accusing the company of bias and supporting progressive speeches.
Donald Trump was suspended from Facebook after the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but his account had been reactivated early 2023.
Mark Zuckerberg had dinner in November with Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, in a gesture seen as a desire to calm relations with the future US president.
Trump’s relatives enter Meta
Another gesture aimed at conservatives, Meta designated a Donald Trump loyalist, Joel Kaplan, at the head of its public affairsreplacing the former British Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, who resigned.
“Too much harmless content has been censored, too many people have been unfairly locked up in “Facebook prison””Joel Kaplan said in a statement, insisting that the current approach had gone “too far”.
Also note the appointment of the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Dana White, close to Donald Trump, as Meta Board of Directors.
Among the upcoming developments, Meta is expected to move its “trust and security” teams from California, generally more progressive, to Texas, more conservative state.
“This will help us build the confidence to get the job done with less concern about bias among our teams.”justified Mark Zuckerberg.
More political content
A movement which also goes with the desire to reverse its decision, in 2021, to reduce political content on its platforms.
The company now wants to take a more personalized approach, giving users a greater control over the amount of political content that they want to see on Facebook, Instagram or Threads.
AFP participates in more than 26 languages in a fact-checking program developed by Facebook, which pays more than 80 media outlets around the world to use their “fact-checks” on its platform, on WhatsApp and on Instagram.
