Meta Officially Ends U.S. Fact-Checking Program
Meta (formerly Facebook) will discontinue its U.S. fact-checking operations starting Monday, according to Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan. This major policy shift follows Meta’s January announcement about relaxing content moderation rules—a decision that has sparked debate about online misinformation and free speech.
The Policy Shift and Its Political Context
The timing of this change coincides with several notable developments:
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attended President Trump’s inauguration after donating $1 million to the inauguration fund
- UFC CEO Dana White, a Trump ally, joined Meta’s board
- Zuckerberg described the political climate as a “cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech”
How Content Moderation Is Changing
Meta is replacing professional fact-checkers with a community-based system modeled after X’s (formerly Twitter) Community Notes feature. Key aspects include:
- Users will now flag and contextualize potentially misleading content
- No penalties will be attached to disputed claims
- The system will roll out gradually across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads
Concerns About the Impact
Critics warn this approach could lead to:
- Increased spread of misinformation (already observed in early rollbacks)
- Greater exposure of marginalized groups to harmful content
- More viral engagement with controversial posts (which Meta’s algorithms tend to promote)
Meta’s updated hateful conduct policy now allows certain allegations about mental health when tied to gender or sexual orientation debates.
The Business of Attention
Analysts note that reduced moderation may benefit Meta by:
- Increasing overall content volume
- Boosting engagement through controversial posts
- Reducing operational costs of fact-checking programs
As Kaplan stated: “It’s not right that things can be said on TV or the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms.” However, early results show this approach has already enabled viral misinformation campaigns, including false claims about immigration policies.
What Comes Next?
The long-term effects of this policy change remain uncertain, but it represents a significant shift in how one of the world’s largest social media platforms handles truth and misinformation in the digital age.
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