There are huge problems with removing fact-checkers, says Meta oversight board

The co-chair of the independent body that reviews Facebook and Instagram content has said she is “very concerned” about how parent company Meta’s decision to ditch fact-checkers will affect minority groups.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, of Meta’s oversight board, told the BBC she welcomed some aspects of the restructuring, which will allow users to decide on the accuracy of posts through X-style “community notes”.

However, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said there were “huge problems” with what had been announced, including the potential impact on the LGBTQ+ community, as well as gender and trans rights.

“We’re seeing a lot of cases where hate speech can cause harm in real life, so we’ll be watching that space very carefully,” he added.

In a published video Along with a company blog post on Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the decision was motivated by “returning to our roots around free expression.”

He said the third-party fact-checkers currently used by the company were “too politically biased,” meaning too many users were being “censored.”

The decision has raised questions about the survival of the board, which Meta funds and was set up by then-chairman of global affairs Sir Nick Clegg. who announced that he would leave the company less than a week ago.

Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark’s former prime minister, insisted changes to fact-checking meant it was more necessary than ever.

“That’s why it’s good that we have a supervisory board that can discuss this transparently with Meta,” he said.

He welcomed some of Meta’s announcements about moderation, including its aim to find a new way to fact-check after there were cases of “over-enforcement”, with people ending up in “Facebook jail”.

While Meta says the measure – which is initially being introduced in the US – is about free speech, others have suggested it is an attempt to reach out to the incoming Trump administration and catch up with the access and influence enjoyed another technological titan, Elon Musk.

Technology journalist and author Kara Swisher told the BBC it was “the most cynical move” she had seen Zuckerberg make in the “many years” she had been reporting on him.

“Facebook does everything that suits it,” he said.

“He wants to kiss Donald Trump and catch up to Elon Musk at that event.”

While Activists against online hate speech reacted with dismay at the change.Some free speech advocates have welcomed the news.

US free speech group Fire said: “Meta’s announcement shows the marketplace of ideas in action. Its users want a social media platform that doesn’t suppress political content or use top-down fact-checkers.

“These changes will hopefully result in less arbitrary moderation decisions and more freedom of expression on Meta platforms.”

Speaking after the changes were announced, Trump said at a news conference that he was impressed by Zuckerberg’s decision and that Meta had “come a long way.”

When asked if Zuckerberg was “responding directly” to threats Trump had made to him in the past, the incoming US president responded: “Probably.”

Zuckerberg acknowledged Tuesday that the change in strategy carried some risk for the company.

“This means we will catch fewer bad things, but we will also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts that we accidentally delete,” he said in his video message.

X’s move to a more hands-off approach to content moderation has contributed to a significant fight with advertisers.

Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, said that was also a risk for Meta.

“Meta’s massive size and powerful advertising platform somewhat insulates it from an X-type exodus of users and advertisers,” he told the BBC.

“But brand safety remains a key factor in determining where advertisers spend their budgets; any major drop in engagement could hurt Meta’s advertising business, given the intense competition for users and advertising dollars.”