Meta's decision to end its fact-checking program and adopt a crowdsourced model that emphasizes “free speech” has sparked intense debate over its implications for disinformation and hate speech online.
This profound shift in content moderation comes less than two weeks before Donald Trump's restoration to the presidency and marks a significant change in the way Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram and Threads, moderates content on its platforms.
The move is seen as a response to criticism from conservatives, who argued that Meta's fact-checking policies disproportionately suppressed right-wing thought. Trump himself had threatened Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, stating that he could “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the 2024 election.
Since Trump's election victory, Zuckerberg has made efforts to repair their relationship. This includes donating $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund and promoting longtime conservative Joel Kaplan as Meta's new global policy chief. Kaplan's leadership has led Meta to adopt a Community Notes model, similar to the one championed by Trump ally Elon Musk at X, where unpaid users moderate content instead of outside experts.
Zuckerberg has acknowledged that this policy change could mean that “we're going to catch fewer bad things.” When Trump was asked if Meta's change was a response to his previous threats, he replied: “Probably.” The changes will affect Facebook, Instagram and Threads, with more than 3 billion users worldwide, and will also end proactive scanning for hate speech, focusing instead on removing “very serious violations” such as terrorism and child exploitation.
Critics claim Meta's new approach will lead to an increase in misinformation and hate speech online. Nora Benavidez, Free Press Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, stated that “content moderation has never been a tool to suppress freedom of expression; it is a principle that the platforms themselves have developed to promote dialogue and protect truth for users.” Benavidez also emphasized that Zuckerberg's decision is not about protecting free speech, but rather about “abandoning the tech company's responsibility to protect its many users” and aligning with Trump's agenda.
“Zuck's announcement is a complete genuflection to Trump and an attempt to overtake Musk in his race to the bottom,” Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation expert, said of Bluesky, referring to X owner Elon Musk.
Zuckerberg's pivot toward Trump's administration is seen as a unique move, given Meta's dominant position in the way Americans communicate online. Because four Meta-Apps – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger – are among the most used internet platforms, the implications of this policy change are far-reaching.