Meta ends its fact-checking program in the US

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Starting today, April 7, Meta will officially end its fact-checking program in the US for its apps: Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. 

This was confirmed by Joel Kaplan, Meta’s new global policy chief, who shared the update in a post on X/Twitter. 

He stated that no new fact checks would be done, and no fact-checkers would remain on these platforms. 

By Monday afternoon, our fact-checking program in the US will be officially over. That means no new fact checks and no fact checkers. We announced in January we’d be winding down the program & removing penalties. In place of fact checks, the first Community Notes will start…

— Joel Kaplan (@joel_kaplan) April 4, 2025

Instead of using professional fact-checkers, Meta will start using a system called “Community Notes,” which will slowly roll out across its platforms. 

These notes will be written by regular users and won’t come with any penalties for those who share incorrect information.

This shift comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in early January that the company would move away from traditional fact-checking. 

This decision was made just before former President Donald Trump began his second term. 

Zuckerberg claimed that fact-checkers had become too politically biased and had ended up making people trust the platforms less rather than more.

Meta says this change is meant to support free speech and reduce political censorship. 

However, many civil rights and digital policy experts are worried. They believe this new approach will allow even more false information, misleading content, and propaganda to spread unchecked.

The idea of Community Notes is borrowed from X, which started using a similar system under Elon Musk. 

Now, Meta is trying something similar. It has already started testing Community Notes and is inviting users to sign up as contributors. 

To be eligible, users must be at least 18 years old, have had their account for over six months, and have a good track record on the platform.

Meta is putting the job of fact-checking into the hands of everyday users, and while the company claims this will protect free speech, critics fear it will make misinformation even harder to control.

What are your thoughts on Meta ending fact-checking on its platforms? Do you think community notes are enough? We want to hear your thoughts on this below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.