A change of era? Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has just announced that it is changing gear regarding its moderation. After seeking to show off following the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2016, Mark Zuckerberg’s group set up a fact-checking program, relying in particular on press agencies. But it’s over: the American company will now rely solely on its Facebook and Instagram users to add notes or corrections to content likely to contain false or misleading information.
In a blog post dated this Tuesday, January 7, entitled “ More freedom of expression, fewer mistakes », Joel Kaplan, the brand new head of International Affairs at Meta, explains that he wants “ put an end to the drift that made our rules too restrictive and too susceptible to over-enforcement ».
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“Restore freedom of expression”
Same story with the founder of the group, Mark Zuckerberg, for whomThe company’s current fact-checking system has “ reached a point where there are too many errors and too much censorship.” “It’s time to return to our roots in freedom of expression », he explains in a video posted on Instagram and Facebook. The new system, which will apply first in the United States, will resemble that used by X, Community Notes.
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The news should please Donald Trump who has long accused social networks, and in particular Facebook, of unfairly treating messages from Republican users. « The recent election also feels like a cultural tipping point toward a new emphasis on free speech », underlines Mark Zuckerberg in his video.
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It must be said that the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp has continued to reach out after years of tension in the Republican camp since the re-election of Donald Trump last November. In addition to a one-on-one dinner between Trump and Zuckerberg, Meta donated $1 million in support of Donald Trump’s inauguration in December. The Facebook founder also named Joel Kaplan, a longtime Republican, as Meta’s head of international affairs.
If the new system seems for the moment confined to the United States, it could also apply in Europe, where the DSA, the European regulation on digital services, imposes reinforced moderation obligations on social networks. The Old Continent has not escaped the criticism of Mark Zuckerberg, for whom “ Europe has more and more laws that institutionalize censorship and make it difficult to develop anything innovative ».
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Source :
Meta blog post from January 7, 2025
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