Meta has announced that it will officially shut down its fact-checking program in the United States starting Monday, according to Joel Kaplan, the company’s Head of Global Affairs. This decision was initially revealed in January, along with a relaxation of the platform’s content moderation policies.
Interestingly, the timing aligns with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, which was attended by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after he donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Shortly after, Zuckerberg appointed Dana White — UFC CEO and longtime Trump ally — to Meta’s board of directors.
Zuckerberg explained that this change reflects a cultural shift back toward prioritizing free speech. However, the new policy allows certain types of speech that were previously restricted, including statements that target minority groups based on gender or sexual orientation.
Instead of relying on professional fact-checkers, Meta will now adopt a model similar to Community Notes on X (formerly Twitter), where users can add context to posts without facing penalties. This new approach depends on community input rather than paid experts.
While this community-based method can sometimes help provide additional context, experts warn that it shouldn’t be the only moderation tool. Without complementary systems, misinformation can still spread easily.
In fact, false content has already begun resurfacing since Meta started scaling back its fact-checking efforts. For example, a Facebook page spread a viral false claim that ICE would pay $750 for tips on undocumented immigrants — and the page admin welcomed the end of the fact-checking program as “great news.”
Kaplan also stated that Meta would remove restrictions on sensitive issues like immigration and gender identity, which are often topics of political debate. He argued that if such discussions are allowed on television or in Congress, they should also be allowed on Meta’s platforms.