Very Shameful: Biden Blasts Meta, Zuckerberg for Ending US Fact-Checking

Washington: Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta announced an end to fact-checking on its platforms, starting with United States. The third-party program will now be replaced by ‘community notes’ which is similar to the one on Elon Musk-owned ‘X’. Reacting negatively to this major technical development, US President Joe Biden has called it ‘very shameful’ and something which is ‘contrary to what America is about’.

‘Very Shameful’: Biden Blasts Meta, Zuckerberg for Ending US Fact-Checking

During a press conference at the White House, US President Joe Biden was asked his opinion on Meta's decision to do away with the traditional third party fact-checking programme. Condemning the tech giant's decision, Joe Biden has called it a shameful decision.

Bide said, “It's just completely contrary to everything America's about. We want to tell the truth. We have always done this as a nation, we want to tell the truth. The idea that a billionaire can buy something and say that by the way from this point on, we are not going to fact check anything.”

He further said, “You think it doesn't matter that they let be printed, or millions of people read, things that are simply not true? I mean, I want to know what that's all about. I think it's really shameful.”

Meta CEO's Big Decision About Removing Fact-Checking

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said Tuesday it's scrapping its third-party fact checking programme and replacing it with a Community Notes programme written by users similar to the model used by Elon Musk's social media platform X. Starting in the US, Meta will end its fact checking programme with independent third parties. The company said it decided to end the programme because expert fact checkers had their own biases and too much content ended up being fact checked.

Why Is Fact-Checking Being Discontinued?

Meta said that its approach of building complex systems to manage content on its platforms has “gone too far” and has made “too many mistakes” and censored too much content. CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the changes are in part sparked by of Donald Trump 's presidential election victory. “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards tower once again prioritising speech,” Zuckerberg said in an online video. 

What is Fact-Checking Being Replaced By?

Meta will pivot to a Community Notes model. “We've seen this approach work on X – where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context,” Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said in a blog post.

The social media company also said plans to allow “more speech” by lifting some restrictions on some topics that are part of mainstream discussion in order to focus on illegal and “high severity violations” like terrorism, child sexual exploitation and drugs.

Brazil's 72-Hour Deadline to Meta Over Fact-Checking

Brazil's federal government issued an extrajudicial notice to Meta on Thursday (local time), demanding clarification on its practices for fact-checking to address hate speech and disinformation on its platforms, as reported by Anadolu News Agency. According to Anadolu News Agency, the Attorney General's Office in Brazil gave Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, 72 hours to explain its decision to discontinue its data verification program earlier this week.

"Brazil has strict legislation to protect children and adolescents, vulnerable populations, and the business environment, and we will not allow these networks to turn the environment into digital carnage or barbarism," the government stated as quoted by Anadolu News Agency, citing a release. "In light of the changes announced in Meta's policy, it is essential to emphasise the company's need to promote and protect fundamental rights in accordance with infra-constitutional legislation and the 1988 Constitution," the Attorney General's Office stated as quoted by Anadolu News Agency.

(Inputs from Agencies)