Meta Policy Changes Explained: How This Impacts Social Media

Tech giant Meta has moved to axe its fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram to leave users to comment on the accuracy of posts. This echoes a ‘community notes’ strategy that X (formerly Twitter) has adopted to create greater freedom of expression, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“⁠It's time to get back to our roots around free expression. We're replacing fact checkers with Community Notes, simplifying our policies and focusing on reducing mistakes,” the CEO shared in a video posted by Meta on 7th January 2025.

Mark Zuckerberg also suggested that its third-party moderators were “too politically biased” - a comment which comes as he and other big tech execs seek to improve relations with US President-elect Donald Trump ahead of its inauguration on 20th January 2025.

What is being scrapped?

Meta is doing away with its current fact checking programme. First introduced in 2016, the company relied on independent fact-checkers to identify, review and rate viral misinformation across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Relying on these independent organisations to review the accuracy of stories leads to Meta reducing the distribution of that content so that fewer people see it. It is also labelled accordingly and people are notified of this process when they try to share the content. 

This process has always been separate to removing content completely. 

Now, Meta will move to a community notes strategy and stop scanning for hate speech by reviewing posts only in response to user reports. Meta's blog post said it would also “undo the mission creep” of rules and policies.

As Mark Zuckerberg explains in his announcement, the fact checking programme was criticised for making too many mistakes or even censoring content. Even President-elect Donald Trump had criticised Meta’s fact-checking policy, referring to it as censorship.

“Fact checkers have been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created,” he stated. “I want to make sure that people can share their beliefs and experiences on our platforms.”

Meta looks to a new Trump administration for support

Social media’s involvement with politics has become a greater conversation in recent years, particularly in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of X (formerly Twitter) and how he moved quickly to change the app’s content moderation strategy.

"We're bringing back civic content," Mark Zuckerberg said. "For a while, the community asked to see less politics because it was making people stressed, so we stopped recommending these posts. But it feels like we're in a new era now, and we're starting to get feedback that people want to see this content again. 

“So we're going to start phasing this back into Facebook, Instagram and Threads while working to keep the communities friendly and positive."

This news also comes as the technology world prepares for Donald Trump’s inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg appears eager to work closely with the new administration, with the company having notified Trump’s team of the policy change ahead of the announcement, as reported by The New York Times.

“The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritising speech," Mark Zuckerberg said via his video announcement. "So we're going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.”

He added: “We're going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more," he said, adding that various countries have cracked down on certain speech online.

"The only way that we can push back on this global trend is with the support of the US government.”

Time will tell if this new user-led policy will be successful. Ava Lee from Global Witness tells the BBC: “Zuckerberg's announcement is a blatant attempt to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration – with harmful implications.

“Claiming to avoid "censorship" is a political move to avoid taking responsibility for hate and disinformation that platforms encourage and facilitate.”

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