Facebook is to scrap its fact-checking programme after founder Mark Zuckerberg pledged to “restore free expression” on the social network.
Mr Zuckerberg on Tuesday promised that parent company Meta would “get rid of fact-checkers” and replace them with a system of “community notes, similar to X”, echoing the approach of rival billionaire Elon Musk.
It follows the exit of Sir Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister and Liberal Democrat leader, as the tech giant’s head of global affairs, a role in which he led a crackdown on hate speech.
Sir Nick has been replaced by the former Republican Party operator Joel Kaplan, who will lead Facebook’s public policy operations.
In a further sign of the company’s shift towards the Right, Mr Zuckerberg this week appointed longstanding Donald Trump ally Dana White, the chief executive of Ultimate Fighting Championship, as a board member.
Mr Zuckerberg said: “Fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created.”
He added that Facebook would “get rid of a bunch of restrictions” on topics including gender and immigration amid a wider corporate backlash against diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Mr Zuckerberg said: “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions.”
The Facebook founder said the technology company had gone too far in tackling “disinformation” in the wake of Mr Trump’s election victory in 2016, amid fears over Russian meddling and fake news, adding that “we’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship”.
He has previously accused Joe Biden’s White House of pressuring Facebook to censor content around coronavirus, saying: “I regret we were not more outspoken about it.”
The decision to ditch some of Facebook’s core moderation policies comes after the departure of Sir Nick, previously one of Mr Zuckerberg’s key lieutenants who was closely involved in the decision to suspend Mr Trump from Facebook in 2021.
Fact checking by experts will be replaced with something like the community notes system pioneered on X, where users can add their own checks to controversial statements.
Speaking to Fox on Tuesday, Mr Kaplan said: “Instead of going to some so-called expert, it instead relies on the community and the people on the platform to provide their own commentary to something that they’ve read.”
He added: “We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression.”
The loosening of online moderation follows Mr Musk’s takeover of X, formerly Twitter, and his decision to implement a system of “community notes”, where users fact-check posts and videos on the social media site.
Currently, Facebook relies on a network of third-party fact-checkers and news groups to report and flag posts that are spreading disinformation. These include news agencies like Reuters and AFP and smaller groups such as the UK’s Full Fact.
The changes will raise questions over the future of Facebook’s “Oversight Board”, which was set up to review the tech giant’s moderation decisions and is made up of public figures including the Alan Rusbridger, the former Guardian editor.
It will also raise questions over whether user-generated community notes will be enough to tackle coordinated disinformation campaigns by hostile nations.
Mr Zuckerberg admitted the changes would mean Facebook will “catch less bad stuff”.
In a statement, the Oversight Board said: “The Oversight Board welcomes the news that Meta will revise its approach to fact-checking, with the goal of finding a scalable solution to enhance trust, free speech and user voice on its platforms.”
Mr Zuckerberg added that Facebook planned to “work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more”.
It comes as Britain prepares to implement the Online Safety Act, starting in March.
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