70+ ‘Fact Check’ Organizations Are Furious at Mark Zuckerberg’s Decision to Bring Free Speech to Facebook

A coalition of more than 70 “fact-checking” organizations writes an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg, citing Meta's decision to move away from biased left-wing “fact-checking” organizations and toward crowdsourced moderation on U.S. platforms. expressed anger at. .

business insider report The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) has announced that it has mobilized support from 71 organizations around the world to pressure Meta to reverse its recent plans to end its fact-checking service. IFCN, part of the nonprofit media organization Poynter Institute, on Thursday released an open letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, calling for biased left-wingers to maintain a common reality and evidence-based discussion. He emphasized the importance of fact-checking.

These organizations argue that “fact-checking is essential to maintaining a common reality and evidence-based debate both in the United States and around the world.” They even believe that “if Meta decides to shut down the program worldwide, it will almost certainly cause real-world damage in many places.”

Meta's surprise announcement on Tuesday revealed plans to replace third-party fact checkers with crowdsourced moderation in the United States. IFCN argues that the move is “a setback for those who want an internet that prioritizes accuracy.” and reliable information. ” This decision could also have severe financial implications for fact-checking organizations that rely on meta for revenue. If Meta stopped funding left-wing censorship efforts, many of them would now be in financial crisis.

Breitbart News reported on Zuckerberg's announcement, writing:

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, is undergoing a major overhaul of its content moderation practices. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that the company is ending its fact-checking program, which has been plagued by deep left-wing bias, and replacing it with a community-driven system similar to X's Community Notes. The change comes in response to what Zuckerberg sees as a “cultural tipping point” toward prioritizing speech in the wake of the recent election.

In the video, Zuckerberg said: state: “We will go back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying policies, and restoring freedom of expression on our platforms. More specifically, we will: First, the U.S. We plan to remove the fact checker and replace it with community notes like X.

in press releaseJoel Kaplan, chief global affairs officer at Meta, said: That can get messy. On a platform where billions of people have a voice, the good, the bad, and the ugly are all on display. But it's freedom of expression. ”

Kaplan highlighted Zuckerberg's 2019 speech at Georgetown University, where he argued that freedom of expression is the driving force behind progress in American society and the world. “Some people believe that giving more people a voice will divide us rather than uniting us. , I believe it's more important to achieve political outcomes that I think are important. I think that's dangerous,” Zuckerberg said at the time.

Kaplan acknowledged that Meta has developed a complex system for managing content in recent years, partly in response to social and political pressure. But he acknowledged that this approach went too far. “While many of these efforts were well-intentioned, they have expanded over time, making too many mistakes, frustrating users, and too often impeding the free expression we strived for. “We find that too much harmless content is censored and too many people are unfairly locked up in 'Facebook prisons,' and when they do, we are often too slow to respond.” said.

As an alternative, IFCN proposed a “new model” for collaboration, suggesting that community notes could be used in conjunction with professional fact-checkers. The organization emphasizes the importance of this approach, saying: “The need is great. If people believe that a social media platform is full of fraud and misinformation, they will be reluctant to spend time or do business there.” It will disappear.''