WATCH: Meta ends third-party fact-checkers, switches to user-based ‘Community Notes’

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced the end of its fact-checking program in the U.S. 

In its place, the company will introduce a “Community Notes” system, which is similar to the system used by Elon Musk’s X platform.

The Community Notes model allows users on Meta’s social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, to flag potentially misleading posts that require “additional context.” 

This approach shifts the responsibility away from independent fact-checking organizations and experts to a more collaborative and user-driven approach to content moderation.

"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," said Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta has expanded its efforts over the years to manage content across its platforms. 

“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,” said Zuckerberg.

Meta announced that it would gradually introduce Community Notes in the U.S. over the next few months and continue refining the new model through the end of 2025.

The platform will discontinue demoting fact-checked content and adopt a label indicating additional information linked to the post. 

This change will replace the company’s current practice of displaying full-screen warnings that users must click through before viewing the post.