Huge problems with removing fact-checkers, Meta watchdog says

The co-chair of the independent body, which reviews content on Facebook and Instagram, said she was “very concerned” about how parent company Meta’s decision to ditch fact-checkers would affect minority groups.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, of Meta’s supervisory board, told the BBC that she welcomed some aspects of the shake-up, which would see users decide on the accuracy of posts through X-style “community notes”.

However, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said there were “huge problems” with what was announced, including the potential impact on the LGBTQ+ community as well as gender and transgender rights.

“We see a lot of cases where hate speech can lead to real-life harm, so we’ll be watching this space very carefully,” she added.

In a published video along with a company blog post on Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the decision was motivated by a “return to our roots around free expression.”

He said the third-party fact-checkers currently used by the firm were “too politically biased,” meaning too many users were “censored.”

However, journalist Maria Ressa, who won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, said the suggestion that the change would promote free speech was “completely wrong”, telling AFP that the decision meant “extremely dangerous times’ for social media users and democracy.

“It is only if you seek profit that you can claim this; only if you want power and money can you claim it,” said Ms Ressa, who co-founded the news site Rappler in the Philippines.

The decision raised questions about the survival of supervisory board co-chairs Ms Thorning-Schmidt.

It was funded by Meta and set up by then Global Affairs President Sir Nick Clegg, who announced that he was leaving the company less than a week ago.

Ms Thorning-Schmidt – a former prime minister of Denmark – insisted this was needed more than ever.

“That’s why it’s good that we have an oversight board that can discuss this in a transparent way with Meta,” she said.

Some have suggested that Sir Nick’s departure – and changes to fact-checking – are an attempt to get closer to the incoming Trump administration and regain the access and influence he enjoys another tech titan, Elon Musk.

Technology journalist and author Cara Swisher told the BBC it was the “most cynical move” she had seen Mr Zuckerberg make in the “many years” she had been reporting on him.

“Facebook is doing everything in its self-interest,” she said.

“He wants to kiss Donald Trump and catch up with Elon Musk in the act.”

While Activists against online hate speech reacted with dismay at the changesome free speech advocates welcomed the news.

US free speech group Fire said: “Meta’s announcement shows the marketplace of ideas in action. Its users want a social media platform that doesn’t suppress political content or use top-down fact-checking.

“Hopefully, these changes will lead to less arbitrary moderation decisions and more free speech on the Meta platforms.”

Speaking after the changes were announced, Mr Trump told a news conference that he was impressed by Mr Zuckerberg’s decision and that Meta had “come a long way”.

Asked if Mr Zuckerberg was “directly responding” to threats Trump has made against him in the past, the future US president said: “Probably”.

Mr Zuckerberg acknowledged on Tuesday that there was some risk to the company in the change of strategy.

“This means we’ll catch less bad stuff, but we’ll also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts we accidentally take down,” he said in his video message.

X’s move to a more independent approach to content moderation contributed greatly discord with advertisers.

Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, said this is a risk for Meta as well.

“Meta’s sheer size and powerful advertising platform insulates it somewhat from an X-like exodus of users and advertisers,” she told the BBC.

“But brand safety remains a key factor in determining where advertisers spend their budgets — any big drop in engagement could hurt Meta’s ad business given the intense competition for users and ad dollars.”