Campaigners against antisemitism concerned over Meta fact checker axe
Facebook and Instagram will now have X-style 'community notes'
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Campaigners against antisemitism have expressed “deep concern” after Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta firm confirmed it was axing fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram.
The social media platforms will instead adopt the community note system now used on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The move came as Zuckerberg and other tech executives seek to improve relations with US President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office later this month.
It was also welcomed as “cool” by billionaire X owner Elon Musk.
In a video posted alongside a blog post, external by the company on Tuesday, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderators were “too politically biased” and it was “time to get back to our roots around free expression”.
Trump and his Republican allies have repeatedly criticised Meta for its fact-checking policy, calling it censorship of right-wing voices.
But in the US, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) chief executive Jonathan A. Greenblatt said after the announcement: “It is mind blowing how one of the most profitable companies in the world, operating with such sophisticated technology, is taking significant steps back in terms of addressing antisemitism, hate, misinformation and protecting vulnerable and marginalized groups online.
“The only winner here is Meta’s bottom line and as a result, all of society will suffer.”
Online antisemitism watchdog Cyber Walk’s founder Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor added:”This change means one thing, very in line with the trend of both X since Musk acquired Twitter – more hate speech, more politicised content, more silos and less effective responses from platforms.
“This change potentially undermines the safety of all marginalised communities, including the Jewish community, which is currently experiencing one of the worst onslaughts of widespread Jew-hatred in both online and offline spaces.”
Meta’s fact checking programme, introduced in 2016, had referred posts that appear to be false or misleading to independent organisations to assess their credibility.
Posts flagged as inaccurate can have labels attached to them offering viewers more information, and be moved lower in users’ feeds.
Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican who replaced Sir Nick Clegg as Meta’s global affairs chief, has suggested Meta’s reliance on independent moderators was “well-intentioned” but too often resulted in censoring.
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