Meta gets rid of fact checkers and makes other major changes to moderation policies
CNN
Meta will be making major changes to its content moderation policy on Facebook and Instagram, getting rid of fact checkers and replacing them with user-generated “community notes,” similar to Elon Musk’s X, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday.
Meta will be making major changes to its content moderation policy on Facebook and Instagram, getting rid of fact checkers and replacing them with user-generated “community notes,” similar to Elon Musk’s X, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday. Meta’s newly appointed Chief of Global Affairs Joel Kaplan told Fox on Tuesday that Meta’s partnerships with third-party fact checkers were “well intentioned at the outset but there’s just been too much political bias in what they choose to fact check and how.” The announcement comes amid a broader apparent ideological shift to the right within Meta’s top ranks, and as Zuckerberg seeks to improve his relationship with Trump before the president-elect takes office later this month. Just one day earlier, Meta announced Trump ally and UFC CEO Dana White would join its board, along with two other new directors. Meta has also said it will donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, and that Zuckerberg wants to take an “active role” in tech policy discussions. Kaplan, a prominent Republican who was elevated to the company’s top policy job last week, acknowledged that the Tuesday announcement is directly related to the changing administration. He said that there’s “no question that there has been a change over the last four years. We saw a lot of societal and political pressure, all in the direction of more content, moderation more censorship, and we’ve got a real opportunity. Now we’ve got a new administration, and a new president coming in who are big defenders of free expression, and that makes a difference.” The moderation changes mark a stunning reversal in how Meta handles false and misleading claims on its platforms.
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