Meta’s decision to eliminate its fact-checking program marks a sharp reversal for the major social media company, quickly prompting questions over the firm’s direction as President-elect Trump heads back to the Oval Office.
The move, combined with other content moderation policy changes, was quickly seen by some in the political world as a powerful signal Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg are hoping to court Trump, who has long accused social media companies of censoring certain views.
“We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg said in a video posted Tuesday morning.
“More specifically, here’s what we’re going to do. First, we’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the U.S.”
Zuckerberg cited the recent election as a driving force in the company’s decision, slamming “governments and legacy media” as pushing the company to “censor more and more.”
“The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech,” he said. “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.”
Meta’s years-long fact-checking program enlisted the help of third-party fact-checkers that moderated posts in more than 60 languages. The company stated the practice eventually became too restrictive of posts over the years.
Trump suggested the changes had something to do with him, telling reporters Tuesday the decision was “probably” in response to his previous threats against Zuckerberg and the company.
“Honestly, I think they’ve come a long way — Meta, Facebook, I think they’ve come a long way,” he said.
Speculation about Meta and Zuckerberg’s political maneuvering has swirled for weeks following the CEO’s meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago late last year and subsequent leadership changes.
Zuckerberg pledged to work with Trump to fight against what he described as a global push for “censorship” on major social media platforms.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
