FIRST ON FOX: Meta is coming to an end its program of fact-checking and lifting restrictions on speech to “restore free speech” on Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting that current content moderation practices have “gone too far gone”.
“We are going back to our roots and focusing on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring free speech on our platforms,” says CEO of Meta. Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted Tuesday morning. “More specifically, we will be abolishing fact-checkers and replacing them with Community Notes similar to X, starting in the US”
Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, Joel Kaplan, will appear on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning for an exclusive interview to discuss the changes.
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was introduced after the 2016 election and was used to “manage the content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to “political pressure,” executives said, but admitted the system “has gone too far “. far.”
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Mark Zuckerberg is shown at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on January 31, 2024. (Kent Nishimura)
“We went to independent, third-party fact-checkers,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital in an interview. “It has become clear that there is too much political bias in what they fact-check, because they can essentially fact-check everything they see on the platform.”
Kaplan told Fox News Digital that Meta is “ending it completely” and will replace it with a “Community Notes” model similar to the one used on X, formerly Twitter.
“Rather than going to a so-called expert, it instead relies on the community and the people on the platform to provide their own commentary on something they’ve read,” Kaplan explained, noting that as a note receives support from “the broadest cross-section of users,” this comment can be added to the content for others to see.
“We think this is a much better approach than relying on so-called experts who bring their own biases to the program,” Kaplan said.
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Kaplan also told Fox News Digital that Meta is changing some of its own content moderation rules, especially ones that they say are “too restrictive and don’t allow enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, transgender issues and gender.” ”
“We want to ensure that discourse can happen freely on the platform, without fear of censorship,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free speech. And we’re not just changing the rules, we’re actually changing the way we enforce the rules.”
Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to restore free speech on Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make “too many mistakes” and remove content “that doesn’t even violate our standards.”
He also said that there are certain things that Meta will continue to moderate, such as posts about terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.
But as for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital that the company “has a real opportunity now.”
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“A new administration is coming that, far from pressuring companies to censor, is (more) a strong supporter of free speech,” Kaplan said, referring to the new Trump administration. “It brings us back to the values on which Mark founded the company.”
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer/File)
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee admitting that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, especially regarding COVID content and even things like satire and humor.
“The point is, when American companies, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the American government pressuring American companies to take down content, it’s just open season on those governments to put more pressure (on their companies),” Kaplan explained. “We think this is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and work for free speech at home.”
Kaplan also said Meta sees “opportunities for partnership” with the Trump administration, not only on free speech, but also in “promoting American business and America’s technological advantage.”
“These are issues that are of great importance to Meta and our industry,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “And we are excited to work with the Trump Administration to achieve these goals.”
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Meanwhile, Meta also said it plans to take a more personalized approach to political content, so users who want to see more posts like this can do so.
Meta said it will refocus its enforcement efforts on “illegal and very serious violations.”
