Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that they are getting rid of fact-checkers, dramatically reducing the amount of censorship, and recommending more political content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
The Meta Newsroom published the article ‘More Speech and Fewer Mistakes,’ which included Zuckerberg’s five-minute video explaining the organization’s direction in years to come.
Here are some of the highlights, which are expected to roll out on Meta’s social platforms in the coming months:
1. Replacing fact-checkers with ‘Community Notes’
The social media platforms under Meta Platforms are now getting rid of fact-checkers in favor of Community Notes, starting in the US. This feature was popularized by X (formerly Twitter) and was launched in 2021.
Zuckerberg cited that since 2016, they moved in good faith to stop misinformation, which was said to threaten democracy without becoming the arbiters of truth. However, he added that the fact-checkers were too politically biased and destroyed more trust than they created, especially in the US.
The Community Notes feature will be phased into a more comprehensive system over the coming months.
2. Simplifying content policy
Zuckerberg added that they are simplifying content policies by eliminating restrictions on various topics, like immigration and gender, that are out of touch with mainstream discourse.
“What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas. And it has gone too far,” he added.
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3. New approach to policy enforcement
Facebook has been criticized for its approach to content censorship. To address this issue, they are changing their policy enforcement to reduce the mistakes that usually lead to censorship.
The platforms will also dial back and will now focus their filters that were used to track most violations to a different emphasis – tackling illegal and high-severity violations. On the other hand, they will rely on people reporting the low-severity violations before they take action.
4. Bringing back civic content
Zuckerberg mentioned that they recommended fewer political posts in the past because of concerns that it stressed people, but quickly added that it appears we’re in a new era now where more people want to see these types of content again.
5. Moving our trust and safety and content moderation teams
In a similar move by other large US tech companies, Meta will now move some of their teams, including the Trust and Safety and Content Moderation teams, from California to Texas, where there is “less concern of the bias of their team.”
Protecting free expression worldwide
The 40-year-old CEO ended with the statement that they will work with President Donald Trump to push back governments around the world, going after American companies and pushing to censor more.
“But the bottom line is that after years of having our content moderation work focused primarily on removing content, it’s time to focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our systems, and getting back to our roots about giving people voice,” concluded Zuckerberg.
In the Philippines, where Facebook has already been used to create political advances and divisions in the past, only time will tell how this move from the most-used social media platform will pan out.
Will it improve online and social media environments and discourse or further politically divide the Filipino people?
What’s your take? Do you think this will be a good or bad move for Meta’s social media platforms? Please share them in the comments.