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The Facebook Files
Confirmed

Meta Ends U.S. Fact-Checking, Admits 'Too Much' Was Censored

Meta announced it would end its third-party fact-checking program in the United States and move to an X-style Community Notes system. The company said its moderation had gone too far, and that it would relocate its trust and safety teams from California to Texas and other U.S. locations.

Jan 7, 2025
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Whose side it served: Republicans

Aligned Meta with the incoming Trump administration's long-running complaints about fact-checking.

What the record shows

In a post titled 'More Speech and Fewer Mistakes,' Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan wrote: 'Starting in the US, we are ending our third party fact checking program and moving to a Community Notes model.' He wrote that 'too much harmless content gets censored' and estimated that 'one to two out of every 10' enforcement actions may have been mistakes. He said Meta would move the trust and safety teams that write content policies and review content 'out of California to Texas and other US locations.' In an accompanying video, Zuckerberg said 'the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased' and that the change would 'dramatically reduce the amount of censorship on our platforms.'

In their words

“Too much harmless content gets censored”— Joel Kaplan, Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer · source
“the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased”— Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO · source
“To my knowledge they didn't take anything down just because it was false.”— Angie Holan, director, International Fact-Checking Network · source
The other side

Fact-checkers said they only labeled posts and that Meta, not they, decided whether to demote or remove content; IFCN's Angie Holan said they did not take content down 'just because it was false.' Critics also noted the timing, two weeks before Donald Trump's second inauguration.

Sources

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