Meta, the company that operates Facebook and Instagram, has announced that it will drastically change the rules for reviewing content on those two social networks.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that he will remove the fact checkers (the teams that have been checking the facts until now) and replace them with so-called "community notes", which are generated by users. Such a system is used on the X social network.
"We will return to our roots and focus on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms. Specifically, we will get rid of fact-checking and replace it with community notes, much like X, starting in the US," Zuckerberg said in a video statement. .
The company has no plans to stop fact-checking in the European Union (EU), they explained to the Brussels portal Politiko, and will review its content moderation obligations in the (EU) before making changes.
The move comes as Meta and other tech giants try to adjust to the newly elected administration of US President-elect Donald Trump. Meta has also put a longtime Republican at the helm of global policy -- Trump ally Dane White will serve on the board.
Trump's pick to head the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, commented online on an X post featuring Zuckerberg's announcement with a mime showing actor Jack Nicholson nodding enthusiastically.
Kar has vowed to destroy what he calls a "censorship cartel" of big tech companies.
Facebook launched its fact-checking system with external partners in December 2016 in response to growing criticism of the company's role in the US election that delivered Trump's first victory.
Other platforms, such as Twitter, also began using external fact-checkers — until billionaire Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022. That's when a feature was introduced that allowed users, rather than external fact-checkers, to add community annotations to viral posts.
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