Meta shelves fact-checking program in US, adopts X-like 'Community Notes' model

Meta is ending its fact-checking program in the US and replacing it with a "Community Notes" system similar to that on Elon Musk-owned X, the Facebook parent said on Tuesday.

The Community Notes model will allow users on Meta's social media sites Facebook, Instagram and Threads to call out posts that are potentially misleading and need more context, rather than placing the responsibility on independent fact checking organisations and experts.

"Experts, like everyone else, have their own biases and perspectives. This showed up in the choices some made about what to fact check and how ... A program intended to inform too often became a tool to censor," Meta said.

Meta added that its efforts over the years to manage content across its platforms have expanded "to the point where we are making too many mistakes, frustrating our users and too often getting in the way of the free expression we set out to enable."

The company said it would begin phasing in Community Notes in the United States over the next couple of months and would improve the model over the course of the year.

It will also stop demoting fact-checked content and use a label notifying users there is additional information related to the post, instead of the company's current method of displaying full-screen warnings that users have to click through before even viewing the post.