Meta announced that it will remove the practice of “fact checking” by independent third parties on content shares on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta’s founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg gave information about the company’s new decision in an online video sharing.
Regarding the decision to end the practice of “fact checking” by third parties on the content of Facebook and Instagram posts, Zuckerberg stated that they would make such a change because fact-checkers have their own biases and the content is excessively checked.
Zuckerberg, who admitted that Meta’s approach to building complex systems to manage content on its platforms “went too far” and made “too many mistakes” by censoring too much content, continued to focus on illegal issues such as terrorism, child sexual abuse and drugs on the platform, while immigration and He noted that they plan to allow “more freedom of expression” by removing restrictions on mainstream discussions such as gender.
Stating that the USA has the strongest constitutional protections in the world regarding freedom of expression, Zuckerberg emphasized that, on the other hand, there is pressure on technological companies and said, “It was very difficult for even the US government to put pressure on censorship in the last four years.” he said.
Zuckerberg noted that censorship efforts within the United States have “emboldened other governments” around the world to go even further, emphasizing the need for American leadership in protecting freedom of expression globally.
Saying that he plans to cooperate with President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, to counter increasing global censorship pressures, Zuckerberg said, “The recent elections also feel like a cultural turning point in prioritizing freedom of expression once again.” he said.
AN APPLICATION SIMILAR TO THE “COMMUNITY NOTES” MODEL USED BY X WILL BE SWITCHED
Meta Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan also shared details about the company’s new policy.
Kaplan stated that instead of “checking the facts”, they will switch to an application similar to the “community notes” model used by Elon Musk’s social media platform “They are allowed to decide whether they need more context.” he said.
Explaining that the new system will be phased in over the next few months, Kaplan stated that the company will work to improve this application throughout the year.
Meta’s semi-independent Supervisory Board, which was established to serve as an arbitrator on controversial content decisions, also stated that they welcomed the new change decision and that they looked forward to the work on the contribution of the new approach to freedom of expression.
