Wednesday Briefing: Meta Set to End Fact-Checking

Meta is ending its fact-checking program

Meta will stop using third-party fact-checkers on Facebook, Threads and Instagram. It will instead rely on users to add notes to posts that may be false or misleading, similar to a system used on X. Follow our live coverage.

The reversal is a stark sign of how Meta is repositioning itself for the Trump presidency, and few other big companies have worked as overtly to curry favor. The company recently gave a heads-up to Trump officials about the change, according to a person with knowledge of the conversations. Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, also said yesterday that Meta had added Dana White, the head of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a longtime friend of Trump, to its board.

Zuckerberg said that the shift would begin in the U.S. in the coming months.

“It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” he said, adding that the current system had “reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship.” He conceded that there would be more “bad stuff” on the platform as a result of the decision, and called it a “trade-off” that would also result in fewer “innocent people’s posts” being taken down.

Reactions: The move seemed to please Trump. At a press event at Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect said that Meta had “come a long way.” He also conceded that the change was “probably” due to threats that he had made against Meta and Zuckerberg. His conservative allies were quick to hail the decision. Many of them felt that they had been unfairly targeted by the program. Several digital rights groups condemned the decision.