“Less censorship”: Meta abolishes fact checkers

Mark Zuckerberg announces the departure from the previous moderation model on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. And that’s not all.

The Facebook group Meta wants to intervene less strongly than before in the spread of false claims on its platforms. Restrictions on controversial topics such as migration should be lifted, announced founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He spoke of “censorship” that had gone too far. The cooperation with fact checkers will be ended – initially in the USA.

Zuckerberg is aware that the changes put Meta on a collision course with the EU, which has a law against misinformation and hate speech on online platforms. The Meta boss is hoping for future US President Donald Trump to put pressure on the rules, which he described as “institutionalized censorship”. However, the company made it clear that there were no “immediate plans” to abolish fact checkers in this country.

Zuckerberg is following the line of tech billionaire Elon Musk, who largely lifted restrictions on expressions on the platform after taking over Twitter. Musks X, as the platform is now called, has since been accused by online researchers of allowing hate speech. X rejects this.

Instead of fact checkers, Meta wants to rely on users themselves to rate statements. That’s how it works at Musks X. The system for such “community notes” is currently being set up. Before it is rolled out internationally, it will be introduced in the USA.

According to the group, there are no immediate plans in Germany to end cooperation with fact checkers. In Europe, however, Meta’s hands are largely tied by the Digital Services Act (DSA) regarding the responsibility of online platforms.

“More bad things” as a result

In addition to Facebook, Meta also includes the photo and video platform Instagram, the chat services WhatsApp and Messenger and the X-Alternative Threads. Zuckerberg admitted that with the new approach there will be “more bad things” on the platforms. But you will make fewer mistakes with excessive moderation.

Zuckerberg pointed out that after the 2016 presidential election with Trump’s first victory, the spread of misinformation online was seen as a major problem. They tried to address these concerns without becoming judges of what was true and false – but the fact checkers were too politically biased and destroyed a lot of trust.

The Meta boss had already criticized last year that the US government of US President Joe Biden had put too much pressure on removing false information about the coronavirus from the platforms.

Higher threshold for intervention

The restrictions should be lifted on the issue of migration and gender issues, as, according to Zuckerberg, these are “no longer in line with public opinion”. The enforcement of the rules should also be reformed: in the future, minor violations would only be checked after user complaints, and algorithms should only intervene at a higher threshold. In addition, Meta wants to bring political and social issues back into focus.

Another step is the relocation of the moderation teams from liberal California to conservative Texas.

White flag in front of Trump?

Zuckerberg’s move is also an approach to Trump and his Republican Party. They had been claiming for years that “conservative views” were being suppressed on Meta and other online platforms. During the election campaign, Trump called Facebook an “enemy of the people” and threatened that Zuckerberg would spend the rest of his life in prison if it was concluded that Meta was interfering in the election campaign. Zuckerberg visited Trump after the election victory.

Trump also sees Meta’s change of course as his achievement. When asked at a press conference whether he believed Zuckerberg had responded directly to the threats, the future US president said: “Probably.”

Shortly before the announcement, there was also an important change in the group’s management team. In keeping with the impending change of power in Washington, the company appointed Joel Kaplan – a former employee of Republican ex-President George W. Bush – as its new political boss.

U-turn before the moment of truth for Tiktok

Meta’s about-face comes at a key moment for rival Tiktok’s future. On January 19th, the app will be threatened with closure in the USA if it is not sold. The US Supreme Court will discuss the case on Friday. Trump, who once wanted to force a Tiktok sale himself, recently spoke out against a ban on the video app, also because it represents a counterweight to Meta’s apps and was useful to him in the election campaign. With more freedom on Facebook and Co., Tiktok could now become less interesting for the Trump camp.

“EU will take a close look at this”

Federal Digital Minister Volker Wissing (independent) said on the sidelines of the CES technology trade fair in Las Vegas that he trusts and relies on the EU Commission to “take a close look at Meta’s actions, examine it strictly and, if necessary, take the necessary measures”. He has already had an exchange on this matter with the new competition commissioner Teresa Ribera from Spain. “I know she takes these issues very seriously and she has my full support and trust.”

Andrej Sokolow and Luzia Geier