A network of fact-checkers will lose a major source of income and could even close their doors after Facebook's parent company Meta announced it was terminating its contract and moving to a system more similar to X's Community Notes. .
“We don't have much time left. At this rate, it will be over within a few months,” Jesse Stiller, editor-in-chief of Check Your Facts, told Fox News Digital.
“We were blindsided by this. This was totally unexpected and out of the box for us. We didn't know this decision was being considered until Mark dropped the video overnight. “I don't know what the future holds for the website,'' he added.
On January 7, 2025, Meta announced it was ending its fact-checking program and lifting some content moderation policies to “restore freedom of expression” across its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. did.
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Fact checkers told FOX News Digital that Meta's decision to end its third-party fact-checking program will have a significant financial impact on their business. (NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Ahead of the announcement, Meta reiterated its long-term commitment to supporting the independent fact-checking industry to combat online “misinformation.”
In an April 2022 blog post: Meta claimed to have built “the largest global fact-checking network of any platform” and has donated more than $100 million to fact-checking programs since 2016.
Meta did not respond when asked how much money it provided to third-party fact checkers before announcing the end of the program in early January 2025.
Meta began prioritizing “additional support and resources” for fact checkers in early 2020 to combat “misinformation” about health, according to the company's website.
As part of this effort, Meta has partnered with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to launch a $1 million emergency grant program to address information about the COVID-19 pandemic.
IFCN created the CoronaVirusFacts Alliance, with nearly 100 fact-checking organizations from more than 70 countries producing more than 11,000 fact-checks about COVID-19 in 40 languages. The Seven Fact-Checking Organizations project focused specifically on vaccine “misinformation.”
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Meta's announcement to restore “freedom of expression” comes after years of intense scrutiny of the company's fact-checking and content moderation practices. (Nicholas Tucat/AFP/Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Zuckerberg acknowledged in August that President Biden pressured Meta to censor some health information during the pandemic.
In January, Zuckerberg told podcast host Joe Rogan that members of the Biden administration were “shouting” and “abusing” employees, demanding information be removed, especially during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine program. ” he said he would.
Mehta later awarded IFCN a $1 million “climate misinformation grant.” Part of the grant funded organizations fighting “climate misinformation” and supported collaborative partnerships with fact-checkers and “climate experts.”
The company also provided funding to fact checkers to “increase their ability to promote trusted information” ahead of 2022 elections in countries as diverse as the United States, Australia, France and India.
In the US, Meta worked with third-party fact checkers: AFP – Hub, Check Your Fact, Factcheck.org, Lead Stories, PolitiFact, Science Feedback, Reuters Fact Check, TelevisaUnivision, The Dispatch, and USA Today.
All 10 of these partners are expected to lose money. It's unclear when or if Mehta's changes will affect fact-checkers abroad.
The internet is abuzz with NYT headlines about fact checkers who have ruled that their meta-criticisms are “wrong'' and “beyond parody.''
Meta and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spoke at length about facing pressure from governments, particularly the Biden administration, to censor content on their behalf. (Joe Rogan Experience)
In a recent interview with FOX News Digital, Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief international affairs officer, argued that these fact checkers were unable to remain neutral.
“We commissioned an independent third-party fact checker to investigate,” Kaplan said. “Basically, they can fact-check everything they see on the platform, so it became clear that there was too much political bias in what they chose to fact-check.”
Since the shift away from third-party fact-checking, several fact-checking organizations with financial ties to tech conglomerates have issued statements criticizing Zuckerberg and Mehta's claims of political bias.
Previously, these groups often received compensation for each fact check published using Meta's platform and tools.
For example, according to PolitiFact, its financial disclosure; derived more than 5% of its 2024 revenue from this partnership.
PolitiFact told Fox News Digital that the organization, which was one of the original participants in Meta's third-party fact-checking program, will be affected by the company's decision to discontinue the program.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that the company is introducing a new fact-checking system similar to Elon Musk's community note on X. (Chris Unger/Zufa LLC/Jonathan Lahr/Nulfoto/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
They also pointed to comments by Neil Brown, head of PolitiFact's parent company, Poynter Institute, to Fox News Digital, calling Meta's decision an “unfortunate crackdown” that “perpetuates misconceptions about its program.” said.
“Facts are not censorship. Fact checkers didn't censor anything. And the meta always held the cards. We need to stop bringing up inflammatory and false language when describing the role of journalists and fact-checkers. The time has come,” Brown said.
Read Stories, a Facebook fact checker that employs several former CNN alumni, told the New York Times The company says it currently does most of its work for TikTok's parent company, ByteDance. Meta was previously a major client of fact checkers.
The company was shocked by Mr. Zuckerberg's announcement, considering that Lead Stories signed a new annual deal with Meta just three weeks ago. Reed Stories acknowledged that severing its relationship with Meta would reduce revenue, but co-founder Alan Duke said it was a reality that would result in “retrenchments.”
“Removing fact checkers from social platforms is like disbanding a fire brigade.” he told CNN in early January.
Meta issues sweeping changes to restore free speech on Facebook, Instagram
The Meta platform appears on a smartphone screen with the Meta logo in the background on August 9, 2024 in Chania, Greece. (Nicholas Cocobris/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Fact-based journalism is what USA Today does best,” Kristin Roberts, chief content officer at Gannett Media (USA Today's parent company), said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“We are the nation's trusted news source because we provide unbiased and important content for everyone. Truth and facts are for everyone, not right or left. That’s what we continue to offer,” she continued.
The company did not provide information about its financial relationship with Meta.
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TelevisaUnivision, Lead Stories, Factcheck.org, AFP – Hub, The Dispatch and Science Feedback did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Reuters declined to comment.
