Mark Zuckerberg has just announced his plan to replace Meta’s “biased” fact checkers with moderation by users.
For years, Meta has implemented a fact checker that censors certain posts that might contain false or misleading information. However, many have expressed this went against our freedom of speech and expression.
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“It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression on Facebook and Instagram,” Zuckerberg said in a video on Meta. “I started building social media to give people a voice speech. I gave a speech at Georgetown five years ago about the importance of protecting free expression, and I still believe this today. But a lot has happened over the last several years.”
“There’s been widespread debate about potential harms from online content. Governments and legacy media have pushed to sensor more and more. A lot of this is clearly political, but there’s also a lot of legitimately bad stuff out there,” he continued. “Drugs, terrorism, child exploitation—these are things that we take very seriously, and I want to make sure that we handle them responsibly.”
Meta Replacing Fact-Checking With Community Notes
Currently, Meta uses a fact-checking program that flags certain posts that appear false or misleading. The post will then offer viewers more information on the given topic and move them lower in users’ feeds.
However, Zuckerberg noted that this censorship has gone too far in some cases, labeling some of the third-party moderators as “too politically biased.” As a result, he’s planning to change the approach of this initiative by allowing moderation by users who will offer diverse, varied perspectives.
According to Meta’s blog post on the matter, “Once the program is up and running, Meta won’t write Community Notes or decide which ones show up. They are written and rated by contributing users.”
“Just like they do on X, Community Notes will require agreement between people with a range of perspectives to help prevent biased ratings,” the post continued. “We intend to be transparent about how different viewpoints inform the Notes displayed in our apps, and are working on the right way to share this information.”
Reactions to this news vary, with some believing it’s a result of Trump winning the election.
“Zuckerberg’s announcement is a blatant attempt to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration—with harmful implications,” said Ava Lee of Global Witness. “Claiming to avoid ‘censorship’ is a political move to avoid taking responsibility for hate and disinformation that platforms encourage and facilitate.”
Zuckerberg himself seemed to hint that Trump’s victory influenced this decision.
“The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing free speech,” he said in Tuesday’s video.
