EXPLAINER: Meta axes factcheckers

What’s it about?

Meta has announced it will get rid of third-party fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, replacing it with a community notes model.

In a statement shared on its website, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, said “societal and political pressures” had partly forced the company to adopt “complex systems to manage content,” which were “getting in the way” of free expression and “limiting legitimate political debate”.

It’s one of the first announcements Kaplan has made as the chief global affairs officer after taking over from UK former deputy first minister Nick Clegg, who stepped down from the role late last week.

The changes come as tech giants look to improve relations with recently re-elected US President Donald Trump before he takes office on 20 January.

Trump, who had previously criticised the Meta’s fact-checking policy, welcomed the changes. When asked whether he thought Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta, was changing the company’s policy in response to Trump’s past threats to imprison the tech executive, the president-elect said, “Probably.”

Why is it getting rid of fact-checkers?

In the blog post, the company said moderators had become “too biased” and had changed the fact-checking programme into a “tool to censor.”

Meta said: “Too much harmless content gets censored, too many people find themselves wrongly locked up in ‘Facebook jail’, and we are often too slow to respond when they do.”

It claimed two out of every 10 moderation content decisions made on its platforms last month may have been a mistake.

What is the new approach?

They company will adopt a community notes programme, which relies on users to flag misleading content, over the coming months.

Users who sign up to be part of the programme can write a note on a post that needs to be fact-checked. Other participants can then rate the note and once it has received enough agreement from people with a range of perspectives, it is published on the post for all users to see.

This is similar to the approach taken by other platforms such as X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meta said: “As we make the transition, we will get rid of our fact-checking control, stop demoting fact checked content and, instead of overlaying full screen interstitial warnings you have to click through before you can even see the post, we will use a much less obtrusive label indicating that there is additional information for those who want to see it.”

What other changes did Meta announce?

In a move it says will improve free political debate, Meta will get rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender identity as well as “tune” its systems, so they require “a much higher degree of confidence” before a post is taken down.

The company will also move away from its widespread use of automated systems to detect policy violation, in a bid to prevent censorship. Instead, the systems will now focus on tackling illegal and high-severity violations, like terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud and scams, while “less severe policy violations”, will rely on users reporting an issue before any action is taken.

It has also began testing facial recognition technology and using artificial intelligence to provide a second opinion before taking enforcement action.

The company has also pledged to recommend more personalised political content in users feeds, ranking content according to signals such as liking a post.

It said: “It's not right that things can be said on TV or the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms.”

What do the changes mean for the UK?

The shift will only be introduced in the US, at least for the moment.

Announcing the changes Zuckerberg, said: “Europe has an ever-increasing number of laws institutionalising censorship and making it difficult to build anything innovative there. The only way we can push back on this global trend is with the support of the US government.”

However, if introduced in the UK, the changes could be at odds with the Online Safety Act, which is currently being implemented by Ofcom.

Under the legislation, social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, will have to introduce new systems to tackle harmful and illegal content.

Last month, the communication regulator published a code of practice and guidance that tech companies should follow to comply with the act. The code lists more than 40 safety measures platforms will have to introduce starting March.

Actions tech firms will have to take include having to appointing a senior person responsible for its compliance with managing illegal content as well as making reporting functions easier to access.

A spokesperson for the UK Government's department for technology said: “We are looking closely at Meta’s announcement impacting its US platform. The UK’s Online Safety Act will oblige them to remove illegal content and content harmful to children here in the UK, and we continue to urge social media companies to counter the spread of misinformation and disinformation hosted on their platforms.”

What have people been saying?

The news has come under fire from campaigners.

Global Witness, a human rights group, said the move was a “blatant attempt to cosy up to the incoming Trump administration” and will make it more dangerous for minorities, women, scientists, and activists.

Ian Russell, father of Molly Russell, 14, who took her life after viewing harmful content online, including Instagram, said he was “dismayed that the company intends to stop proactive moderation of many forms of harmful content and to only act if and when a user complaint is received”.

Chris Morris, chief executive of the UK factchecking organisation Full Fact, which has been funded by Meta to check Facebook content, called the change “a backwards step that risks a chilling effect around the world”.

But it has also received support from high-profile individuals such as broadcaster Piers Morgan who described the move as “amazing” and a “U-turn on all woke censorship & cancel culture bulls***.”