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First up is Fox: Metadata is ending It plans to fact-check and lift speech restrictions to “restore free speech” on Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting that its current content moderation practices “go too far.”
“We’re going back to our roots and focusing on reducing bugs, simplifying policies, and restoring free speech on the platform,” Meta’s CEO said. Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted Tuesday morning. “More specifically, we will eliminate fact-checking programs and replace them with community annotations similar to X, starting in the United States”
Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, will discuss the changes in an exclusive interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning.
Executives said Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was implemented after the 2016 election largely due to “political pressure” and was used to “moderate content” and misinformation on the platform, but admitted the system “has Outdated”. Far away. ”
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Mark Zuckerberg attended the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on January 31, 2024. (Nishimura Ken)
“We went to an independent, third-party fact-checker,” Kaplan said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “It’s clear there’s so much political bias in what they choose to fact-check because basically they can fact-check anything they see on the platform.”
Kaplan told Fox Digital News that Meta is “completely ending that” and will replace it with a “community note” model similar to the one used on X (formerly Twitter).
“Instead of going to some so-called expert, it relies on the community and people on the platform to provide their own commentary on something they’ve read,” Kaplan explained. He noted that if an annotation reaches “the broadest group of users ”, the annotation can be attached to the content for others to view.
“We think this is a better approach than relying on so-called experts who bring their own biases into the program,” Kaplan said.
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Kaplan also told Fox News Digital that Meta is changing some of its own content moderation rules, specifically those they feel are “too restrictive and do not allow for adequate discussion around sensitive topics like immigration, transgender issues and gender.”
“We want to make sure that speech can occur freely on the platform without fear of censorship,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free speech. We don’t just change the rules, we actually It’s changing the way the rules are enforced.”
Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting speech restrictions to “restore free speech” on Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutson)
Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems that he said make “too many mistakes” and remove content that “doesn’t even violate our standards.”
He also said Meta would continue to moderate certain content, such as posts related to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.
But as for the timing of the change, Kaplan told Fox News Digital “there’s a real opportunity now.”
“Far from putting pressure on businesses to censor, our new administration is coming in with strong support for free speech,” Kaplan said of the incoming Trump administration. “It takes us back to where Mark founded company values.”
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer/File)
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in which he acknowledged that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, especially regarding COVID-19 content and even content such as satire and humor.
“The problem is, as an American company, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or the First Amendment see the U.S. government pressuring U.S. companies to remove content, it’s very difficult for those countries that don’t have our tradition or the First Amendment to “It’s open season for the government to put more pressure[on its companies],” Kaplan explained. “We do think this is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and work on free speech in the country.”
Kaplan also said that Mehta sees “opportunities to work together” with the Trump administration, not only on free speech issues but also in “promoting American commerce and American technological superiority.”
“These issues are very important to Meta and our industry,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “We are pleased to work with the Trump Administration to advance these goals.”
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Meta, meanwhile, also said it plans to take a more personalized approach to political content so that users who want to see more such posts can do so.
Meta said it would refocus enforcement efforts on “unlawful and highly serious breaches”.
