Americans had mixed reactions to Meta's decision to end its fact-checking program this week, with some telling Fox News Digital they found the move alarming.
“Freedom of speech should be absolute,” one respondent told Fox News Digital in Texas. “I don't think anyone has the power to censor anyone.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday that he is ending its fact-checking program and lifting speech restrictions to “reclaim freedom of expression” across Facebook, Instagram and other Meta platforms. , admitted that current content moderation practices have gone “too far.” Zuckerberg said Meta's new system is similar to Elon Musk's community notes on X.
“I like the fact that it eliminates the fact checkers. The fact checkers weren't really doing much fact checking, just the people who paid for the fact checking,” Rudy said. He told FOX News Digital. “It sounds to me like they can't be trusted. They just dialed down the same thing and it's a little too late to do that. But I think it's better than what they had.”
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)
The internet is abuzz with NYT headlines about fact checkers who have ruled that their meta-criticisms are “wrong'' and “beyond parody.''
Other Americans also told Fox News Digital that the announcement was disappointing.
“That disappoints me, because I want all social media to be fact-checked as much as possible to get accurate information. What I'm really concerned about is that Facebook , I believe that it doesn't go through the fact-checking process that it should,'' Greg told FOX News Digital.
Meta's third-party fact-checking program was introduced after the 2016 election and has been used primarily to “moderate content” and control misinformation on the platform due to “political pressure,” executives said. said, but admitted that the system had gone “too far.” ”
Multiple sources told FOX News Digital they had not yet heard about Meta's announcement.
Facebook app on smartphone. (Kurt “Cyber Guy” Knutson)
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“Honestly, a few years ago I probably would have said, 'Well, this is a private company. They have the right to do what they want, and people can use their heads and do whatever they want. We must decide what is right, what is wrong, and what is true.” 'But I'm a psychology student and I started to realize that people don't always stop and think for themselves, so maybe I need someone to fact-check me. So, yeah, it's alarming,” Melissa said.
Fox News Digital also asked Texas residents about Zuckerberg moving Meta's content moderation team to Texas.
“Well, let's give them a chance and see what happens,” Greg said. “I deleted all of my social media simply because it's not fact-checked and it's not as well policed as I believe it should be.”
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Madeline, who also lives in Texas, told Fox News Digital that Zuckerberg likely moved to Texas because it was “easier to run” his business there, and that he was relocating his business from California. He said he questioned the reason for doing so.
Elizabeth Heckman reported from Texas.
FOX News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
