Meta’s fact-checking overhaul widens global rift on disinformation
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said ending the company's domestic fact-checking program will help address potential censorship. Photo by Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press
The Washington Post
Meta’s plans to scale back fact-checking apply only in the United States for now, the company said, nodding to domestic political realities in a way that is set to widen the gap between what users experience on social media in and outside the country.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a video Tuesday that the Facebook and Instagram parent company will end partnerships with third-party fact-checkers who for years have vetted misleading or harmful content, accusing them of harboring political biases and eroding public trust. Instead, he said, it will rely on a user-driven flagging method similar to the one run by Elon Musk’s X.
While Meta said the plan would be rolled out “first” in the United States, spokesman Andy Stone said the company has no immediate plans to extend the policies to other regions, such as Europe, where social platforms have come under increased legal pressure to increase rather than diminish content moderation. The company declined to comment on whether or when it would apply changes globally.
The changes deepen a growing schism between how platforms tackle disinformation and other potentially harmful posts inside the United States vs. its global allies, particularly in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election win.
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