Meta Scraps U.S. Fact-Checking Program Ahead of Trump Administration’s Return

Meta Platforms (META.O) has announced the discontinuation of its fact-checking program in the U.S. and a reduction in its restrictions on controversial topics such as immigration and gender identity. This move, which represents a significant shift in Meta’s approach to political content, comes as the company adjusts to the expected return of President-elect Donald Trump to office.

The decision is seen as a response to conservative criticism, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized the importance of returning to the company’s roots in promoting free expression. Meta will instead adopt a “community notes” system, which allows users to contribute to content moderation, similar to the model used by Elon Musk’s X platform. In addition, Meta will scale back its proactive efforts to detect and remove rule-breaking content, focusing its automated systems on high-severity violations like terrorism, child exploitation, and fraud.

Meta’s overhaul of its content moderation approach includes the relocation of teams responsible for writing and reviewing content policies from California to Texas and other U.S. locations. These changes are a result of more than a year of discussions within the company, although the specific details of the relocation remain unclear.

The decision to end the fact-checking program, initiated in 2016, has taken its partner organizations by surprise. Critics argue that the shift may facilitate the spread of disinformation, with some claiming it is politically motivated. Meta’s independent Oversight Board expressed support for the move, while fact-checkers and other journalistic organizations expressed concerns about the impact on credibility.

While these changes are initially limited to the U.S. market, Meta has not yet indicated whether similar adjustments will be made in other regions like the European Union, which has stricter tech regulations under its Digital Services Act.