FIRST ON FOX: Meta ends its fact-checking program and lifts restrictions on speech to ‘restore free speech’ across Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have ‘gone too far’ .
“We’re going to return to our roots and focus on reducing errors, simplifying our policies, and restoring free speech on our platforms,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted Tuesday morning . “Specifically, we will get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community ratings similar to X, starting with the United States.”
Meta’s Director of Global Affairs, Joel Kaplan, will be on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning for an exclusive interview to discuss the changes.
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was set up after the 2016 election and was used to “manage content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to “political pressure,” the company said. leaders, but admitted the system was “too far”. far.”
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Mark Zuckerberg is introduced during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on January 31, 2024. (Kent Nishimura)
“We went to independent, third-party fact-checkers,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital in an interview. “It has become clear that there is too much political bias in what they choose to fact-check because basically they can fact-check anything they see on the platform.”
Kaplan told Fox News Digital that Meta is “completely ending that” and replacing it with a “Community Notes” model similar to that used at X, formerly Twitter.
“Instead of going to a so-called expert, he relies on the community and people on the platform to provide their own feedback on something they’ve read,” Kaplan explained, noting that If a note gets support from “the broadest cross-section of users”, that note can be attached to the content for others to see.
“We think this is a much better approach than relying on so-called experts who bring their own biases into the program,” Kaplan said.
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Kaplan also told Fox News Digital that Meta was changing some of its own content moderation rules, particularly those they deemed “too restrictive and not allowing enough debate on sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.
“We want to make sure that speech can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “We have the power to change the rules and make them more friendly to free speech. And we’re not just changing the rules, we’re actually changing the way we enforce them.”
Meta ends its fact-checking program and lifts restrictions on speech to “restore free speech” on the Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems that he says make “too many mistakes” and remove content “that doesn’t even violate our standards.”
He also said there were some things Meta would continue to moderate, such as posts related to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.
But as for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital that the company has “a real opportunity now.”
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“We have a new administration that is far from pressuring businesses to censor and is instead a strong supporter of free speech,” Kaplan said, referring to the new Trump administration. “It brings us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.”
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer/File)
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in which he admitted to feeling pressure from the Biden administration, particularly regarding COVID content, and even things like satire and humor.
“The fact is, as American businesses, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the United States government putting pressure on American businesses to When they remove content, the hunt is on for these companies to put more pressure (on their companies),” Kaplan explained. “We think this is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and work on free speech in our country.”
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Kaplan also said Meta saw “opportunities for partnership” with the Trump administration, not only on free speech issues, but also in “promoting American business and America’s technological edge.” .
“These are questions of great importance to Meta and our industry,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance these goals.”
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At the same time, Meta also announced plans to take a more personalized approach to political content, so that users who want to see more posts of this type can do so.
Meta said it would refocus its enforcement efforts on “illegal and high-severity violations.”
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