Meta to end fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram in the US

Meta is ending its fact-checking program in the United States and replacing it with a system similar to the “Community Notes” system on Elon Musk’s X device, Facebook’s parent company said on Tuesday.

The new model will allow users on Meta’s social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Threads to call out posts that are potentially misleading and need more context, rather than putting the onus on independent fact-checking organizations and experts.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed to CBC News that the changes will not apply in Canada or anywhere else outside the United States at this time.

“We’ve started rolling out community feedback in the (US) and will continue to improve it throughout the year before expanding to other countries,” the spokesperson said.

Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, wrote a blog post explaining the change.

“Experts, like everyone else, have their own biases and viewpoints. This has shown up in the choices some have made about what to investigate and how,” Kaplan wrote. “A program that aims to inform has often become an instrument of censorship.”

Kaplan added that over the years its efforts to moderate content across its platforms have expanded “to the point where we make a lot of mistakes, which frustrates our users and oftentimes gets in the way of the freedom of expression we set out to enable.”

The changes are due in part to Trump’s victory

CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the changes were partly caused by political events, including Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election.

“The recent election also appears to be a cultural turning point toward once again prioritizing expression,” Zuckerberg said in an online video.

The company said it will begin implementing community feedback in phases in the United States over the next two months and will work to improve the model throughout the year.

“We’ve seen this approach work on X — where they empower their community to identify when posts are misleading and need more context,” Kaplan said in the blog post.

Meta will also stop downgrading verified content and using a flag to inform users that there is additional information related to the post, instead of the company’s current method of displaying full-screen warnings that users have to click on before viewing the post.