In 2022, Elon Musk has taken over Twitter and has made a series of changes to the platform, including changing its name to X and introducing Community Notes, a feature that allows users to add context or check potentially misleading messages.
This approach differs from Meta’s model, which relies on third-party, independent fact-checking organizations to flag misleading posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads (X’s rival).
However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that Meta will stop working with these organizations and will instead implement an X-like Community Notes feature. Zuckerberg also unveiled a series of other major changes to the company’s moderation policies and practices, aimed at giving people more freedom of expression.
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Community Notes are coming to metaplatforms
Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the social media company would stop working with third-party fact-checking organizations. In a video Posted on Instagram and Facebook, Zuckerberg said the approach to content moderation too often resulted in “censorship.”
“After Trump was first elected in 2016, the traditional media wrote non-stop about how disinformation was a threat to democracy. We tried in good faith to address these concerns without becoming the arbiters of the truth,” Zuckerberg said. “But the fact-checkers have simply been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created, especially in the US.”
Zuckerberg said that Meta will end its fact-checking program with trusted partners and replace it with a community-driven system similar to X’s Community Notes.
For those who don’t know, Community Notes on When a tweet is flagged for misinformation or lack of context, users can submit comments that provide additional information or correct inaccuracies.
These notes are then reviewed by other users, who can vote the contributions up or down based on their helpfulness and accuracy. If a note receives enough support, it will become visible below the original tweet, creating a balanced view and informing others.
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Meta’s changes are sparking backlash in the fact-checking community
However, independent fact-checkers are not happy with the change.
“Fact-check journalism has never censored or deleted posts; it has added information and context to controversial claims, and it has debunked hoax content and conspiracy theories. The fact-checkers used by Meta follow a code of principles that require impartiality and transparency,” said Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network.
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Meta also reduces censorship
Zuckerberg also revealed plans to overhaul Meta’s recommendation system, which determines what content is shown to users. The company has restricted political content for years, citing user feedback and concerns about social media’s impact on beliefs.
“We’ve built a lot of complex systems to moderate content, but the problem with complex systems is that they make mistakes,” Zuckerberg said. “Even if they accidentally censor just 1% of posts, that’s millions of people, and we’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship.”
He added that Meta would abolish some of its content policies on controversial issues, including immigration and gender, and refocus automated moderation on what he described as very serious violations. The company will now take a more personalized approach to political content, so that people who want to see more of it in their feeds can see it.
Additionally, Facebook will move its trust, safety and content moderation teams from California to Texas. Zuckerberg also said Meta would work with the new Trump administration to promote freedom of expression worldwide, although he did not provide specific details.
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Kurt’s most important takeaway
Meta’s platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are more heavily moderated compared to platforms like X, which has created less freedom of expression for users. The changes Zuckerberg announced Tuesday are intended to relax those rules so people can share their thoughts more freely. This could lead to more offensive content, but that’s the trade-off for more freedom. The introduction of Community Notes is also a good change as it gives users more control rather than leaving it to a small group of people who may be biased towards a particular political party or issue.
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