Social media giant Meta has today scrapped its US fact-checking programe for a community-based system similar to X and reduced the curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, reports RTE.
The move marks a reversal in Meta’s policy as CEO Mark Zuckerberg has long championed active content moderation despite criticism from conservatives over alleged censorship on its platforms.
It also comes shortly after the company named Republican policy executive Joel Kaplan as global affairs head and elected Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a close friend of President-elect Donald Trump, to its board.
“We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship. It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” Zuckerberg said in a video, reports RTE.
“We’re going to focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms. We’re going to tune our content filters to require much higher confidence before taking down content,” he added, reports RTE.
The end of the fact-checking programme, started in 2016, caught some partner organisations by surprise.
“We didn’t know that this move was happening and it comes as a shock to us. This is definitely going to affect us,” said Jesse Stiller, managing editor at Check Your Fact, reports RTE.
In favour of a community-based approach like to X, social media behemoth Meta today eliminated its US fact-checking program and loosened restrictions on conversations on divisive subjects including immigration and gender identity.
Since CEO Mark Zuckerberg has always supported active content moderation in spite of conservative criticism on purported censorship on its platforms, the move represents a shift in Meta’s stance.
It also happens soon after the corporation elected Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and close friend of President-elect Donald Trump, to its board and appointed Republican policy expert Joel Kaplan as head of global affairs, reports RTE.
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