Meta to Discontinue Fact-Checking Program Prior to Trump's Inauguration
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New Delhi, Jan 7 (NationPress) As the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump approaches on January 20, the social media company Meta has declared its intention to discontinue the use of fact-checkers.
According to Meta, this decision aims to "restore free expression" and will depend on users of Facebook and Instagram to provide notes or corrections to posts, mirroring the system implemented by X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, stated in a social media post, "We are eliminating fact-checkers in favor of community notes akin to X (formerly Twitter), beginning in the US."
Zuckerberg also mentioned that adjustments to the company's content moderation policies concerning political matters are forthcoming.
This shift will impact billions of users across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
In a video shared on Facebook, Zuckerberg remarked, "We have reached a stage where there are too many errors and excessive censorship. The recent elections seem to represent a cultural tipping point towards once more prioritizing speech, so we’re returning to our foundations and emphasizing the reduction of mistakes, simplifying our policies, and reinstating free expression on our platforms."
"The third-party fact-checkers have been 'too politically biased' and have diminished more trust than they’ve built, particularly in the U.S,” he added.
Currently, AFP operates in 26 languages under Facebook's fact-checking program, where Meta compensates for fact-checks from around 80 organizations worldwide on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
Elon Musk's platform X has utilized community notes to highlight misleading posts on its service.
During the elections, Trump criticized Zuckerberg, alleging that the fact-checking feature unfairly targeted posts by conservative users.
This move by Meta is anticipated to resonate positively with Trump and his supporters, who have been critical of the company's practices.
