Last Tuesday (7), the CEO of MetaMark Zuckerberg, announced a major change on the Facebook, Instagram and Threads platforms: the fact-checking system carried out by third parties is being officially discontinued us United States.
In order not to completely end information checking, the company plans to implement the “community notes” model, a feature similar to what is already being used on X (formerly Twitter). In addition, the company’s fact-checking department will continue to operate for more serious matters.
According to Zuckerberg’s speech, the change is being made to avoid bad scenarios and reduce the number of publications and profiles of people that were accidentally removed due to the fact-checking service. The CEO states that the company will work together with the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
“It’s time to return to our roots around freedom of expression. We are replacing fact checkers with [recurso] community notes, simplifying our policies and focusing on reducing errors,” said Zuckerberg.
What changes?
For now, the changes are limited to the United States. However, with Zuckerberg’s statements about alleged censorship by governments in Europe and Latin America, it is likely that these changes will also occur.
In the case of Brazil, there is still no clear definitionbut the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) has already considered closing the fact-checking system in the country.
Until then, Facebook, Instagram and Threads used a verification system that sought to ensure the dissemination of reliable information in more than 26 languages; the purpose was to combat fake news, especially related to political content. To carry out this work, the company counted on the support of dozens of specialized organizations.
From now on, Meta will no longer check minor content. According to Zuckerberg, the objective is to reduce the number of publications and profiles removed by the system, in order to promote greater freedom of expression.
The company’s “trust, safety and content moderation” team will now focus exclusively on high-severity posts that may represent legal violations, such as terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud and scams.
In less serious cases, users will be able to use the “community notes” feature, a mechanism that allows them to add information to alert the platform about the possible inappropriateness of content. Unlike the fact-checking system, which had professionals dedicated to verifying publications and profiles, this model allows the community itself to identify and flag potentially harmful content.
Facebook, Instagram and Threads will be affected
In an official statement, Meta announced that the new feature will be gradually implemented on Facebook, Instagram and .
In addition to the closure of the fact-checking system and the inclusion of the ‘community notes’ feature, the CEO informed that the platforms will once again allow the recommendation of content related to politics.
Does the change affect WhatsApp?
Meta’s official statement makes no mention of the .
In March 2024, information emerged indicating that Meta had already reduced resources allocated to fact-checking companies in Brazil, specifically in relation to WhatsApp. At the time, it was announced that the cuts reached 30%.
