Mark Zuckerberg shuts down Meta fact-checking program, replaces it with Community Notes in the US – Times of India

In a significant policy shift, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced the end of its third-party fact-checking program in the United States. This move comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for a second term.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the company will replace the fact-checking program with a community-based system similar to the “Community Notes” model used by Elon Musk’s social platform X. This new approach will allow users to call out potentially misleading posts and provide additional context, rather than relying on independent fact-checking organisations.
“We’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the US,” Zuckerberg said in a video. “We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship. It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” he said.
Zuckerberg cited the need to prioritise free expression and reduce mistakes in content moderation as reasons for the change. He acknowledged that the recent US elections played a role in this decision, describing them as a “cultural tipping point” towards prioritising speech.
“The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritising speech, so we’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms,” the Meta CEO said.
The policy reversal also includes lifting some restrictions on discussions around sensitive topics such as immigration and gender identity. Meta will focus its automated systems on removing high-severity violations and illegal content, such as terrorism and illicit drugs, while reducing proactive scanning for hate speech and other rule-breaking content.