Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced on Tuesday that it will phase out its third-party fact-checking program in favor of a new “community notes” system, inspired by the model used on Elon Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter). The transition will begin in the United States.
Explaining the decision, Meta said that expert fact-checkers often exhibited biases, leading to an excessive amount of content being flagged. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared on social media, “We’re replacing fact-checkers with community notes, starting in the US, similar to X. Fact-checkers have been too politically biased, eroding more trust than they’ve built, particularly in the US.”
Joel Kaplan, Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, echoed this sentiment in a blog post, stating, “We’ve seen the community-driven approach work on X, where users help determine when posts require additional context to prevent misinformation.”
Meta also announced plans to promote “more speech” by easing restrictions on selective topics discussed in mainstream conversations. The company emphasized that it would concentrate on addressing severe violations like terrorism, drug-related activities, and sexual exploitation.
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Zuckerberg noted that the recent US presidential elections signaled a “cultural tipping point” in favor of prioritizing free speech. This move follows years of criticism from figures like US President-elect Donald Trump, who accused Meta of bias against conservatives and favoring liberal viewpoints.
As part of its broader overhaul, Meta will relocate its trust and safety teams from California to Texas, a state with a more conservative lean. “This relocation will help build trust by operating in regions where concerns about bias are less prevalent,” Zuckerberg said.
Additionally, Meta will reverse its 2021 policy of reducing political content on its platforms. Instead, it will implement a personalized approach, allowing users to control the level of political content they encounter on Facebook and Instagram.
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