Metaplatforms abandon third-party data verification in the US

Meta is abandoning the use of third-party fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram in the US and replacing it with X-style “community notes,” where feedback on the accuracy of posts is left up to users.

In a video published together a blog post For the company on Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said “it’s time to get back to our roots around free expression.”

Joel Kaplan, who is replacing Sir Nick Clegg As Meta’s head of global affairs, he wrote that the company’s reliance on independent moderators was “well-intentioned” but had gone too far.

“Too much harmless content is censored,” he wrote, adding that Meta “too often stood in the way of the free expression we set out to allow.”

The move to a community grading system will be phased in over the next few months in the US.

The system, which Meta says it has seen “work on X”, sees people of different points of view agree on notes that add context or clarification to controversial posts.

The company’s blog post said it would also “undo mission advancement” of rules and policies – highlighting the removal of restrictions on topics including “immigration, gender and gender identity” – saying they have slowed discussion and political debate.

“We are getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics such as immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political speeches and debates,” he says.

“It is not right that things can be said on television or in the plenary session of Congress, but not on our platforms.”

The changes come as technology companies and their executives prepare for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

Trump has previously been an outspoken critic of Meta and its approach to content moderation.

He called Facebook “an enemy of the people” in March 2024.

But relations between the two men have improved since then – Mr. Zuckerberg I had dinner at Trump’s estate in Florida at Mar-a-Lago in November.

“The recent election also seems like a cultural turning point toward prioritizing, once again, free speech,” Zuckerberg said in Tuesday’s video.

Kaplan’s replacement by Sir Nick Clegg – former Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister – as the company’s chairman of global affairs has also been interpreted by many analysts as a sign of the company’s shift in focus towards moderation and its changing political priorities.

In a statement announcing he would resign on January 2, Sir Nick said his successor was “clearly the right person for the right job at the right time.”