Meta’s fact-checking decision sets off alarm bells in India
Meta has decided to do away with the third-party fact-checking programme in the US and will instead rely onuser-generated community notes to cross-check and establish the veracity of content on its platforms.
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Community Notes, made popular by Elon Musk after he took over Twitter, is run by writers, contributors and other users who rate the quality of the fact-check against various parameters. Meta’s move to adopt a similar structure for fact-checking content on its platforms could lead to a spurt in misinformation and disinformation across the company's platforms, experts said.
“We are in a situation in the world where there is an extraordinary rise at the moment in conflict as well as authoritarianism. Both of those feed on disinformation and the generation of often unwarranted fears about the other,” Phil Bloomer, executive director at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre said.
The decision will hurt social media users looking for accurate, reliable information to make decisions about their everyday lives and interactions with friends and family, Angie Drobnic Holan, the director of International Fact-Checking Network said in a post on LinkedIn.
“The fact-checkers used by Meta follow a Code of Principles requiring nonpartisanship and transparency. It’s unfortunate that this decision comes in the wake of extreme
