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Friend,
On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook and Instagram will abandon professional content moderation and fact checking in favor of user-generated “Community Notes” like the ones Elon Musk introduced on Twitter. In general, taking advice from Musk is a bad idea, but this idea is especially terrible.
Just prior to Election Day, a study found that Twitter’s Community Notes system failed to correct false and misleading political claims, resulting in more than two billion views on unchecked posts.1 This approach is great in theory but buckles time and again under the sheer volume of misinformation and violent content.
Now allow us to offer a brand-new Community Note for you, Mr. Zuckerberg: Your decision is dangerous and shortsighted — and it shows your willingness to once again sell out democracy.
Slamming the work of dedicated fact checkers, Zuckerberg is insisting that all he’s doing is defending free speech. But his real intentions are obvious: Ditch all responsibility to protect Facebook and Instagram users, and promise that his company will support Trump’s war on accountability.
We want to hear from you: Does Mark Zuckerberg’s decision change how you feel about Facebook and Instagram?
Zuckerberg has joined a long line of billionaires2 sucking up3 to a demagogue and expecting the rest of us to pay the price. In a rambling, self-congratulatory video announcing the new policy, the Meta CEO’s effort to sound like he cares about his community rang hollow: By flaunting a $900,000 watch, Zuckerberg reminded us that he places himself well above everyday people.4
Perhaps that’s why he took it a step further, making it clear that Meta will partner with the Trump administration to oppose any foreign governments’ policies that attempt to rein in the global spread of hate and disinformation — but in his profit-sick mind, it’s the fact checkers who are “too politically biased.”
Social-media platforms themselves developed content moderation to promote open dialogue and protect truth for users. But now Zuckerberg is endorsing more lies, more harassment and more hate — and he’s hiding behind misguided First Amendment arguments to do so.
Let us know what you think about Meta’s new decision to abandon fact checking.
We’re grateful for your input,
Nora and the rest of us at Free Press
1. “Rated Not Helpful: How X’s Community Notes System Falls Short on Misleading Claims,” Center for Countering Digital Hate, Oct. 30, 2024
2. “Bending the Knee to Trump Is as Easy as ABC,” Free Press, Dec. 18, 2024
3. “Media and Tech Billionaires Helped Elect Trump — and Now They're Ready to Serve,” Free Press, Nov. 15, 2024
4. “Mark Zuckerberg Sports $900,000 Watch as He Calls Time on Meta Fact-Checking,” The Guardian, Jan. 7, 2025
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