Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) has announced that it will end its fact-checking program in the United States, marking a major setback in the social network’s content moderation policy.
“We will get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes, similar to X (formerly Twitter), starting in the United States”declared the boss of the group, Mark Zuckerberg, in a message on social networks.
Selon Mark Zuckerberg, “auditors have been too politically oriented and have done more to reduce trust than to improve it, particularly in the United States”. Meta’s announcement comes as Republicans and the owner of competing 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 “put an end to a number of limits regarding topics, such as immigration and gender, which are no longer in dominant discourses”.
No solution to misinformation
“This is a major setback for content moderation policy, at a time when misinformation and dangerous content are changing faster than ever”worried the co-founder of the Center for Information Resilience (CIR), Russ Burley, in a comment.
“Efforts to protect freedom of expression are essential, but stepping back on fact-checking without a credible alternative opens the door to a flood of even more dangerous content”he insisted.
The announcement comes as Mark Zuckerberg has made numerous gestures towards President-elect Donald Trump, notably via a donation of one million dollars for the fund financing the inauguration ceremonies of the mandate, 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 was reactivated in early 2023.
More political content
Mark Zuckerberg had dinner in November with Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago (Florida) residence, in a gesture seen as a desire to calm relations with the future American president. In another gesture aimed at conservatives, Meta appointed a Donald Trump loyalist, Joel Kaplan, to head its public affairs, replacing the former British deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, who resigned.
“Too much safe content has been censored, too many people have been unfairly locked into “Facebook prison “ »Joe Kaplan said in a statement, insisting that the current approach had gone “too far”.
Another gesture of appeasement on the part of Meta: the appointment of the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Dana White, also close to Donald Trump, to the Meta board of directors.
Among the upcoming developments, Meta should move its teams “trust and security” from California, generally more progressive, to Texas, a more conservative state. “This will help us build the confidence to get the job done with less worry about bias among our teams.”justified Mark Zuckerberg.
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 greater control over how much political content they want to see on Facebook, Instagram or Threads.
The 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.
