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From Fox News: Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to “restore free expression” across Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have “gone too far.”
“We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted Tuesday morning. “More specifically, we’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with Community Notes similar to X, starting in the U.S.”
Sharing a video on Facebook, Zuckerberg wrote, “It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression. We’re replacing fact checkers with Community Notes, simplifying our policies and focusing on reducing mistakes. Looking forward to this next chapter.”
WATCH HIS ANNOUNCEMENT BELOW:
CLICK HERE to read the full press release from Zuckerberg.
Following the 2016 election, Meta put into place a third-party fact-checking program to “manage content” and “misinformation” on its platforms, which resulted in severe censorship of conservatives news. Zuckerberg has since admitted that this was largely due to “political pressure.” Meta executives have also admitted the content management system has “gone too far.”
In a Fox & Friends interview Tuesday morning, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, shared more details on the changes.
“We went to independent, third-party fact-checkers,” Kaplan said Tuesday morning. “It has become clear there is too much political bias in what they choose to fact-check because, basically, they get to fact-check whatever they see on the platform.”
Now, Kaplan says Meta will adopt the “community notes” approach with Musk has implemented on X.
“Instead of going to some so-called expert, it instead relies on the community and the people on the platform to provide their own commentary to something that they’ve read,” Kaplan explained, adding, “We think that’s a much better approach rather than relying on so-called experts who bring their own biases into the program.”
Kaplan noted that Meta’s current moderation rules are “too restrictive and not allowing enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.”
“If you can say it on TV and say it on the floor of Congress, you should be able to say it on Facebook. We want to make sure that discourse can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship,” he said.
Referring to the incoming Trump administration, Kaplan said, “We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and is a huge supporter of free expression. It gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.”
WATCH:
Zuckerberg also announced Monday that three new people are joining Meta’s board of directors, including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO and President Dana White, who is a conservative and a staunch Trump supporter.
In a Facebook post, he wrote:
I’m excited to kick off the year with some news we’ve been working on for a while: Dana White, John Elkann, and Charlie Songhurst are joining Meta’s board of directors. We have massive opportunities ahead in AI, wearables, and the future of social media, and our board will help us achieve our vision.
Some background on each:
Dana is the President and CEO of UFC, and he has built it into one of the most valuable, fastest growing, and most popular sports enterprises in the world. I’ve admired him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand.
John is the CEO of Exor, and chairman of two of Exor’s auto portfolio companies, Stellantis and Ferrari. He has deep experience running large global businesses and he brings an international perspective to our board.
Charlie is a tech investor who previously led strategy teams at Microsoft. He joined the Meta Advisory Group last year to advise on our AI and technology roadmaps, and I’m excited to add him to our board now.
I look forward to working with Dana, Charlie, and John. 2025 is going to be a big year for Meta and I’m excited to have them on board!
“I love social media. And I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies,” White said in a statement on X.
I love social media. And I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies. @Meta pic.twitter.com/Amh5W728og
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 6, 2025
X owner Elon Musk responded to the news, writing, “This is cool.”
This is cool pic.twitter.com/kUkrvu6YKY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2025
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