Meta is making major changes to its content policies, signaling a shift toward free expression just days before the new Republican administration takes office.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, will eliminate its third-party fact-checking program. In its place, the company will introduce a system similar to “Community Notes,” a feature already used by X (formerly Twitter), which is owned by Elon Musk, a vocal Trump supporter.
The fact-checking program, launched in 2016, partnered with over 90 certified organizations to verify content in more than 60 languages. While the initiative successfully flagged numerous false claims, it faced mounting criticism. Republicans accused it of unfairly targeting conservative voices, while Democrats pointed out its failure to curb the spread of divisive content effectively.
Zuckerberg also revealed plans to relax restrictions on sensitive topics such as immigration and gender while maintaining strict oversight on issues like drugs, terrorism, and child exploitation.
“We built a lot of complex systems to moderate content, but the problem with complex systems is they make mistakes,” Zuckerberg said. “Even if they accidentally censor just 1% of posts, that’s millions of people, and we’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship.” He pledged a more cautious approach to content removal, referencing high-profile suspensions like Donald Trump’s, whose account was inactive for two years following the January 2021 Capitol riots.
In another significant move, Meta’s moderation operations will relocate from California to Texas, a Republican stronghold. The company also plans to increase the visibility of political content in user feeds, reversing its previous policy of reducing such content to address user complaints and polarization concerns.
Zuckerberg described the changes as a response to a “cultural shift” emphasizing free speech. He also announced Meta’s collaboration with the federal government to fight online censorship by foreign powers and to protect U.S. companies from external interference, particularly from Russia and China.
