Meta returns to his roots: fact check is abolished!

Meta returns to his roots: fact check is abolished!

The Technologieriese Meta, parent company of Facebook, is in a upheaval that will fundamentally change the way content is moderated. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, announced on Tuesday that the company has been abolishing its program for factual testing by external organizations in the USA since 2016. This radical decision not only makes the platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, but could also have long -term effects in the way in which users evaluate and spread content. Instead of the external exams, a new system called "Community emergency" will be introduced in the future, which offers users the opportunity to add their own contexts to articles, similar to the platform X (formerly Twitter). This change is a direct reaction to the inadequate results of the previous program, which, according to Zuckerberg, caused more problems than it solved by affecting the user experience and broke freedom of expression.

a step towards free expression

Zuckerberg emphasizes that Meta focuses on returning to its roots in order to promote freedom of expression, which also includes the resistance to various government measures that want to censor American companies. In this context, he explained that Meta will work with President Trump to act against "more and more laws that have institutionalized censorship". This censorship is a topic that has been addressed since Trump's original presidency, in particular after its suspension of Facebook and Instagram in connection with the unrest in the Capitol in 2021, which was canceled in 2023. In the past, Trump had referred to Facebook as the "enemy of the people", which reinforced the tension between its administration and the platform, as can be seen from the reports of Marketwatch.

The changes also indicate a realignment of the content guidelines, whereby Meta plans to reduce numerous restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender identity that are no longer considered up to date. In addition, the monitoring of content is simplified by placing the focus on serious and illegal violations instead of scanning all possible rule violations. However, Zuckerberg warns that it is still important to find a balance between free expression and protection against misinformation. The upcoming changes could not only influence the credibility of Meta, but also encourage users to work more actively to shape their ancient content, while at the same time the discussion about the responsibility of social media in today's society is intensified.