Meta announced Tuesday that it would end a fact-checking program for posts made to Facebook and Threads, a program launched in response to widespread misinformation posted during the 2016 election. The company is also adjusting its content moderation policy to be less restrictive.
The move was cheered by conservatives, who say fact-checking and moderation of users’ posts stifles free expression. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said that the company’s trust and safety teams will move from California to Texas.
Meta, which owns Instagram, also made news this week for showing users AI-generated versions of themselves that people didn’t expect. Tech expert Omar Gallaga says Meta has turned more to the right, in response to the re-election of Donald Trump as president.
Highlights from this segment:
– Meta will no longer partner with organizations like PolitiFact to fact-check user posts believed to include misinformation.
– Zuckerberg said in a video posted online that Meta would move more members of its trust and safety team from California to Texas, where Zuckerberg believes the teams would be perceived as less biased.
– An Instagram user recently was surprised to receive an AI-generated ad containing an image of himself, situated among a large number of mirrors.
