Meta ends fact-checking
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has announced that content on Facebook, Instagram and Threads will no longer be reviewed by third-party fact-checking teams. Instead, like Elon Musk's X, the company will rely on user comments as a corrective. The move will initially only apply for the US. Restrictive content guidelines will also be dropped at a later date. According to Zuckerberg, the US election signalled the will to prioritise freedom of expression.
Understandable from Zuckerberg's point of view
The Meta boss is simply trying to help his company, Zeit Online reflects:
“Zuckerberg's initiative may be prompted by the fact that two of the key areas in which Meta operates are also fields in which Musk's companies are active. Besides social networks this is primarily artificial intelligence (AI), in which Meta has invested billions. It can't be ideal for Meta if the president only ever listens to the competition on these topics. In fact, how well you get on with the president is likely to be crucial for economic success under a Trump administration. The term 'oligarchy' is increasingly pertinent. In this context, it is actually understandable from Zuckerberg's point of view to have acted in this way.”
This "freedom" undermines democracy
La Repubblica also sees a confrontation with the EU ahead:
“The way Mark Zuckerberg announced the end of the control of content published by Facebook highlights that this is an epochal turning point whose impact goes beyond 'fact-checking'. ... For him, Trump's victory shows the will of Americans to 'prioritise free speech', but this comes at the price of reopening the door to lies that are systematically circulated with the goal of undermining the democratic process. He then sharply attacked Europe: 'We're going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more'. According to Zuckerberg we have an 'ever-increasing number of laws, institutionalising censorship and making it difficult to build anything innovative there'.”
Why now?
Helsingin Sanomat says the timing of this move is no mere coincidence:
“Naturally, the freedom Zuckerberg presents in his video is a good thing. Freedom of expression and pluralism are good things in principle. What Zuckerberg doesn't say, however, is what the company's new algorithms will look like. ... The most problematic aspect is the timing, regardless of what one may think of the reforms. What does it say about America that the country's most important private media company is changing course entirely at the same time as the country's leadership is changing?”