Meta to get rid of social media fact checkers to promote so-called ‘free speech’

Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said in a video call on Tuesday (7 January) that the brand will ditch fact checkers in order to prioritise “free speech,” following the re-election of Donald Trump.

In recent years, the phrase “free speech” has increasingly become an alt-right rallying cry, with many divisive figures claiming “freedom of speech” gives them a right to spew hateful rhetoric and fascist viewpoints.

Facebook, Instagram and Threads will all dump their fact checkers, with Mark Zuckerberg claiming they had become “too politically biased. They will be replaced by community notes, similar to the ones on social media competitor X, which is owned by fervent Trump ally Elon Musk.

Community notes on X rely on users to add context to certain posts to combat misinformation – not

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