Meta is scrapping its third party fact-checking service in the US after nine years and replacing it with a “community notes” system, similar to the one used by X.
It says it will help promote free expression and stop harmless content getting taking down.
Users on sites such as Facebook and Instagram will be able to highlight posts that could be misleading and need more context – instead of leaving it to outside organisations and experts.
“Experts, like everyone else, have their own biases and perspectives. This showed up in the choices some made about what to fact check and how… A program intended to inform too often became a tool to censor,” Meta said.
It said the current system was “making too many mistakes, frustrating our users and too often getting in the way of the free expression”.
“Too much harmless content gets censored, too many people find themselves wrongly locked up in ‘Facebook jail’, and we are often too slow to respond when they do,” said the company.
It means fact-checked content will no longer be demoted and instead there will be a label notifying users there’s additional information – with this written and rated by users.
Agreement between people with a range of perspectives will be a fundamental part of the system to help prevent biased ratings, according to a statement.
Currently, there are full-screen warnings that must be clicked through before a fact-checked post can even be seen.
Meta said the third party system was the “best and most reasonable choice” in 2016, but things had changed.
It said community notes works well on X and allows “people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see”.
Community notes will be rolled out in the US over the next few months and the model will be improved during the rest of the year.
UFC boss White joins Meta board
On Monday, Meta announced UFC boss Dana White had joined its board of directors.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said White was joining alongside car industry tycoon and Ferrari chairman John Elkann and British tech investor Charlie Songhurst.
White is known for being friends with Donald Trump, and the pair are often seen ringside at the UFC’s mixed martial arts events.
He’s also spoken several times at Republican conventions events and whipped up the crowd during a Trump rally during the last election campaign.
The appointment could prove helpful for Meta’s relations with the incoming president.
Mr Trump and Meta had strained relations after the 2020 election, with Mr Trump accusing the company of suppressing content that would have hurt Joe Biden.
Donald Trump was also banned from Facebook after the US Capitol riots 2021 – but the decision was reversed a year later.
In a statement, Mr Zuckerberg – who also practises mixed martial arts – said White has built the UFC “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,” he added.
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White said he had never been interested in joining a board of directors until he got the call from Meta.
“I am very excited to join this incredible team and to learn more about this business from the inside,” said the UFC mogul. “There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level.”
White’s appointment comes a few days after it was revealed former Republican White House deputy chief of staff Joel Kaplan would take over from Nick Clegg as Meta’s president of global affairs.
That move was also seen by many as trying to position the company favourably for the next presidency.
