Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has announced a major shift in how the company handles content moderation. The tech giant plans to phase out the use of fact-checkers across its platforms, instead introducing a system of community notes, similar to the approach used by its competitor, X.
The community notes will be curated by users, like X, allowing them to have a say in deciding what’s true and what’s not.
“We’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes, similar to X,” Zuckerberg explained in a video statement on Tuesday. “We’re gonna get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.”
This move marks the latest in a series of significant policy changes at Meta, set to transform the moderation of posts, videos, and other content on Facebook and Instagram.
“Experts, like everyone else, have their own biases and perspectives. This showed up in the choices some made about what to fact check and how… A program intended to inform too often became a tool to censor,” Meta said.
Previously, Meta relied heavily on fact-checkers for content moderation. However, this approach faced criticism from some quarters, with accusations that it was used to suppress content perceived as unfavourable to left-leaning views.
“Too much harmless content gets censored, too many people find themselves wrongly locked up in ‘Facebook jail’, and we are often too slow to respond when they do,” Meta stated.
The company’s recent decisions, including the appointment of UFC CEO and Trump ally Dana White to Meta’s board, suggest a notable ideological shift towards more conservative principles.