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A network of fact-checkers will lose a major source of income and could even go out of business afterward. Meta, parent company of Facebook announced that it would terminate its contracts and move towards a system closer to X’s Community Notes.
“We don’t have much time left. At this rate, we’ll be done in a few months,” said Check Your Fact managing editor Jesse Stiller. FoxNewsDigital.
“This took us by surprise. It was totally unexpected and out of the ordinary for us. We didn’t know this decision was being considered until Mark released the video overnight. We have no idea what the future of the website will look like in the future “he added.
On January 7, 2025, Meta revealed that it would end its fact-checking program and remove some content moderation policies to “restore free expression” on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
Fact-checkers told Fox News Digital that Meta’s decision to end its third-party fact-checking program will have a significant economic impact on its businesses. (NICOLÁS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Before the announcement, Meta repeatedly emphasized that they were committed to supporting a long-term solution. independent data verification industry to tackle “misinformation” online.
In a blog post from April 2022, Meta claimed it had built the “largest global fact-checking network of any platform” and had contributed more than $100 million to fact-checking programs since 2016.
Meta did not respond when asked how much money it had given to third-party fact-checkers before announcing the end of the program in early January 2025.
According to the company’s website, Meta began prioritizing “additional support and resources” for fact-checkers in early 2020 to combat health “misinformation.”
As part of this initiative, Meta launched a $1 million emergency grant program in partnership with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to address reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic.
IFCN created the CoronaVirusFacts Alliance, in which nearly 100 fact-checking organizations in more than 70 countries produced more than 11,000 COVID-19 fact checks in 40 languages. Seven fact-checking organization projects focused specifically on vaccine “misinformation.”
Meta’s announcement to restore “freedom of expression” comes after years of scrutiny of the company’s content moderation and fact-checking practices. (Nicolás TUCAT/AFP/Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In August, Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden White House had pressured Meta to censor certain health information during the pandemic.
Zuckerberg told podcast host Joe Rogan in January that members of the Biden administration “I would scream” and “I would curse” to its employees, requiring them to write down information, especially during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine program.
Meta subsequently awarded the IFCN a $1 million “Climate Disinformation Grant.” The grant, in part, provided funding to organizations working to combat “climate misinformation” and supported collaborative partnerships between fact-checkers and “climate experts.”
The company also provided funding to fact-checkers to “increase their ability to promote credible information” ahead of the 2022 elections in several countries, including the United States, Australia, France and India.
In the United States, Meta worked with the following third-party fact-checkers: AFP – Hub, Check Your Fact, Factcheck.org, Lead Stories, PolitiFact, Science Feedback, Reuters Fact Check, TelevisaUnivision, The Dispatch and USA Today.
All 10 partners are expected to lose their funding. It is unclear when or if the Meta changes will affect foreign fact-checkers.
Meta and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spoke at length about the pressure he faced from the government, particularly the Biden administration, to censor content on his behalf. (Joe Rogan Experience)
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Meta’s director of global affairs, Joel Kaplan, stated that these fact-checkers failed to remain neutral.
“We used independent, third-party fact-checkers,” Kaplan said. “It has become clear that there is too much political bias in what they choose to verify because they can basically verify everything they see on the platform.”
Since third-party fact-checking was abandoned, several of these fact-checking organizations with financial ties to the tech conglomerate have issued critical statements against Zuckerberg and Meta’s claims of political bias.
Previously, these groups were paid for each fact check published using Meta platforms and tools.
For example, PolitiFact, according to your financial statements, It earned more than five percent of its 2024 revenue from the partnership.
PolitiFact told Fox News Digital that the organization, one of the original participants in Meta’s third-party fact-checking program, will be affected by the company’s decision to discontinue it.
META PROBLEMS BIG CHANGES TO RESTORE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that his company would adopt a new fact-checking system similar to Elon Musk’s X Community Notes. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
They also pointed Fox News Digital to comments made by Poynter Institute president and PolitiFact parent Neil Brown, who called Meta’s decision a “disappointing cop-out” that “perpetuates a misunderstanding of his own program.”
“Facts are not censorship. Fact checkers never censored anything. And Meta always held the cards. It’s time to stop invoking inflammatory and false language when describing the role of journalists and fact checking,” Brown said.
Lead Stories, a Facebook fact-checker that employs several CNN alumni, told the New York Times who is now doing a lot of his work for TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance. Meta was previously the fact-checker’s primary client.
The company was shocked by Zuckerberg’s announcement, considering Lead Stories signed a new one-year deal with Meta just three weeks ago. Lead Stories admitted it would see a drop in revenue after severing ties with Meta, a reality that will result in a “reduction in staff,” according to co-founder Alan Duke.
“Removing fact-checkers from social platforms is like disbanding the fire department.” he told CNN in early January.
META PROBLEMS BIG CHANGES TO RESTORE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM
Meta platforms are displayed on a smartphone screen and the Meta logo appears in the background in Chania, Greece, on August 9, 2024. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Kristin Roberts, chief content officer at Gannet Media (USA Today’s parent company), said, “Fact-based journalism is what USA Today does best.”
“We are the country’s trusted news source because we provide unbiased and essential content for all people. Truth and facts serve everyone, not the right or the left, and that is what we will continue to provide,” he continued.
The company did not provide information about its financial relationship with Meta.
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TelevisaUnivision, Lead Stories, Factcheck.org, AFP – Hub, The Dispatch and Science Feedback did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Reuters declined to comment.
