Meta Reveals Plan to Alter Fact-Checking Program

January 7, 2025

The move will end a third-party fact-checking system and rely on users to add notes or corrections to posts. It is likely to please the incoming Trump administration and its conservative allies.

Meta on Tuesday announced a set of changes to its content moderation practices that would effectively put an end to its longstanding fact-checking program, a policy instituted to curtail the spread of misinformation across its social media apps.

Instead of using news organizations and other third-party groups, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, will rely on users to add notes or corrections to posts that may contain false or misleading information.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, said in a video statement that the new protocol, which will begin in the United States, is similar to the one used by X, called Community Notes.

“It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. On the company’s current fact-checking system, he added that it had “reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship.”

Mr. Zuckerberg noted that “recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech.”

Elon Musk has relied on Community Notes to flag misleading posts on X. Since taking over the social network, Mr. Musk has also increasingly positioned X as the platform behind the new Trump presidency.

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