Meta intends to eliminate its fact-checking program

This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:

Hibapress

The Meta platform, owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced on Tuesday its intention to end its fact-checking program in order to further prioritize freedom of expression based on “community ratings”.

In a video posted to his Facebook account, the owner of the social media platform, Mark Zuckerberg said that the program will be repealed in the United States and replaced by a community system similar to the “community notes” used on the X network.

“We will return to our roots and focus on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring freedom of expression on our platforms,” stressed the billionaire.

Fact-checking rules, introduced a few years ago, “have been too politicized and have done more to reduce trust than to improve it, particularly in the United States,” he admitted. .

Zuckerberg also noted that the systems Meta created to moderate its platforms made “too many mistakes,” adding that the company will continue to “aggressively” moderate content related to drugs, terrorism and exploitation. children.

Reacting to the announcement during a press briefing from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, US President-elect Donald Trump said he “probably” would have influenced the decision.

Trump had, on several occasions, criticized the “censorship” exercised by the social platform, particularly during the last elections in the United States. “The recent election appears to have been a cultural turning point, once again prioritizing free speech,” Zuckerberg noted.

In addition to the fact-checking program, Meta also plans to lighten its policies around hot-button issues, such as immigration and gender, and refocus its automated moderation systems on “high severity” violations, he said.