Meta on Friday announced it will officially end its fact-checking program in favor of community notes on its Facebook, Instagram, and Threads platforms on Monday.
“By Monday afternoon, our fact-checking program in the US will be officially over. That means no new fact checks and no fact checkers. We announced in January we’d be winding down the program & removing penalties. In place of fact checks, the first Community Notes will start appearing gradually across Facebook, Threads & Instagram, with no penalties attached,” Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer for Meta, announced on X.
On Monday, Meta will deactivate fact-checkers’ ability to rate new content, meaning that no new fact-checks will appear on content on Meta platforms in America.
Older fact-checks will no longer be matched with new content in the United States either. Anyone that has received a fact-check since January will not receive a penalty or demotion.
By Monday, no users should have strikes on their accounts or demotions related to fact-checking.
Notes that have reached consensus will gradually appear on Meta platforms.
Mark Zuckerberg announced in January that it would scrap its third-party fact-check system in favor of community notes.
Meta believes this would lead to a less biased and more scalable approach than the fact-checking system.
As Meta was moving to end its fact-checking program, some, including Paul Thacker, an independent journalist who focuses on disinformation efforts, have vented about being fact-checked by Facebook.
President Donald Trump and others have welcomed the ending of fact-checking and the rolled-out introduction of community notes.
“They have come a long way,” Trump said in January.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said the announcement was a “good step in the right direction.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said he is pleased to “see Meta’s stated commitment to free speech.”
“I commend Meta for taking this step toward restoring free expression,” House Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) said.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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