Toba Owojaiye reporting
Abuja, Nigeria
Social media giant Meta has announced a sweeping shift in its content moderation policies, ending its fact-checking programs on Facebook and Instagram in favor of “community notes,” a system similar to that used by X (formerly Twitter). The change will initially roll out in the U.S.
Truth Live News gathered that Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder and CEO, explained the rationale behind the decision, citing political bias as a major concern:
“We’re going to get rid of fact-checkers (that) have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the US.”
He added that the move represents a shift toward prioritizing free speech over moderation:
“Recent elections feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech.”
This decision comes as Meta appears to be aligning its policies with the priorities of President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican Party. Conservatives have long criticized fact-checking as a form of censorship that disproportionately targets right-wing voices. States like Florida and Texas have even proposed laws to limit content moderation practices.
Zuckerberg’s announcement follows a series of conciliatory gestures toward Trump, including a $1 million donation to his inauguration fund and a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago in November. Trump has been a vocal critic of Meta, particularly after the company banned him following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots—a ban that was lifted in early 2023.
As part of the overhaul, Meta is:
Relocating its trust and safety teams from California to Texas to address concerns about team bias.
Appointing Joel Kaplan, a former Republican official, as head of public affairs.
Adding UFC President Dana White, a Trump ally, to the Meta board.
Joel Kaplan criticized Meta’s previous moderation policies, saying:
“Too much harmless content gets censored, too many people find themselves wrongly locked up in ‘Facebook jail.’”
Additionally, Meta plans to reverse its policy of reducing political content across platforms, offering users more control over the amount of political content they encounter.
Zuckerberg also criticized the European Union’s increasingly stringent content moderation laws, which require platforms to maintain specific standards or face heavy fines. He stated that Meta would collaborate with Trump to counter such “foreign government censorship.”
The shift to “community notes” represents a move away from traditional fact-checking. This system, popularized by X, allows users to collaboratively add context to posts, relying on consensus rather than top-down moderation to distill reliable information.
Meta’s fact-checking program previously partnered with over 80 organizations worldwide, including AFP, to reduce the spread of misinformation. Content rated as false was downgraded in news feeds, and users attempting to share such posts were presented with articles explaining their misleading nature.
This shift signals Meta’s embrace of a more decentralized approach to content moderation, aligning closely with the priorities of the incoming Trump administration. However, critics argue that such a move could exacerbate the spread of misinformation.
While Meta frames this as a step toward free speech, it raises concerns about the potential consequences of scaling back oversight. The balance between free expression and the spread of disinformation will likely be tested in the coming months, with public sentiment—and global regulatory scrutiny—closely following these developments.