In a bid to further protect free speech ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, Meta Platforms announced on Tuesday that it is ending its third-party fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram and switching to a user-driven “Community Notes” system.
With an announcement by its parent, Meta Platforms—that houses Facebook and Instagram—the move would signal an unprecedented shift for this company’s way of managing content, marking the abrupt end to a fact-checking third-party program announced just days ahead of the president-elect’s taking office of President Donald Trump.
Recently, in a video message, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg reemphasized the renewed commitment to free speech: “We’re getting back to our roots and focusing on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.” He further elaborated that Meta will replace the traditional fact-checkers with a “Community Notes” system, similar to what Elon Musk’s X platform—formerly Twitter—does with what it calls “notes,” a feature where users can add context to posts that they feel need more info.
This move is part of a larger wave among social media companies in reducing efforts for content moderation. This trend can be attributed to the changing political landscape and economics. In 2023, for instance, YouTube and Meta dropped policies aimed at stifling claims of a fraudulent 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Critics of Meta’s ruling say it raises the risk that diminishing professional fact-checking may expand the prevalence of misinformation and hate speech on its various platforms. However, in promoting the cause that may result in fewer cases of censorship, its effectiveness as an instrument for managing content could ultimately be watered down to where harmful content takes over.
Other policy changes will involve Meta moving the trust and safety teams out of California and to Texas. According to Zuckerberg, relocating will solve issues regarding the political nature of such teams, as this “will help us build trust.”
With Meta transitioning to the Community Notes system, only time will tell whether user-generated content will effectively help in the regulation of misinformation spread. Its success would heavily rely on the active participation and vigilance of the user community in identifying and providing context to possibly misleading posts.
