Meta’s oversight board rips Zuckerberg’s move to end fact-checking

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been strongly criticised by the company’s independent Oversight Board for recent changes to how it handles content on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta’s independent oversight board has rebuked the company for scrapping the social-media giant’s fact-checking policy earlier this year – urging Mark Zuckerberg’s firm to assess “potential adverse effects.”

The board, which operates independently but is funded by Meta, cited concerns that the company had made the changes “hastily, in a departure from regular procedure, with no public information shared as to what, if any, prior human rights due diligence the company performed”, the New York Post reports.

It issued its first rulings on individual content cases since Zuckerberg in January, just a few weeks before Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, announced that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp would do away with their fact-checking teams.

Mark Zuckerberg in January rolled back Meta’s fact-checking policies.

In some cases, the board upheld Meta’s decisions to leave up controversial content, like posts discussing transgender peoples’ access to bathrooms.

At other times, it ordered the company to remove posts, including ones containing racist slurs.

Its comments put the board at odds with Meta’s chief executive, who has been trying to carry favour with President Trump.

In January, Zuckerberg claimed the content restrictions resulted in “too many mistakes and too much censorship.”

He ended the content restrictions and pivoted to a “Community Notes” model, much like social media platform X, which is run by fellow Trump ally Elon Musk. Musk has similarly argued that fact-checking teams and policies are a muzzle on free speech.

Meta replaced its content restrictions with a “Community Notes” model, much like the method used by Elon Musk’s X. Picture: AFP

In his quest to buddy up to the incoming administration, Zuckerberg dined with Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence just before Thanksgiving and donated $US1 million to his inaugural fund.

But the 40-year-old tech tycoon has faced backlash for rolling back the content moderation policies, which aimed to tamp down misinformation and hate speech.

The rule change removed restrictions on referring to gay people as mentally ill and to women as “household objects or property.” It said it would focus on detecting content related to terrorism, child sexual exploitation and fraud.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson told The Post the company welcomed the board’s decisions “that leave up or restore content in the interest of promoting free expression on our platforms.”

It did not address the board’s rulings that called for content to be taken down

– This story originally appeared in The New York Post.

ZUCKERBERG DENIES BUYING RIVALS TO CONQUER THEM

Mark Zuckerberg denied in court that his Meta – the owner of Facebook – bought rivals Instagram and WhatsApp in a bid to neutralise the threat they represented, AFP reported.

The Facebook founder and third-richest man in the world testified for the third day and final day in a landmark antitrust case last week that could see him forced to sell off the other two apps.

When asked by the Federal Trade Commission’s lawyers if Facebook conquered competitive threats by buying them out, Mr Zuckerberg’s answer was crystal clear.

“No,” he said.

Mr Zuckerberg explained Instagram was purchased in 2012 for its camera and photo-sharing experience but that Facebook didn’t consider its network to be competitive.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp was bought in 2014 because it was technically impressive, but Mr Zuckerberg said its founders were “unambitious” about “maximising the impact”.

“I basically ended up pushing to add things,” he told the court.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg departs from the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Court House in Washington, DC. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The Meta CEO said Facebook leaned on its scale and resources to build the other two apps into the powerhouses used by billions of people today.

A key question before the court is how the Federal Trade Commission defines Meta’s market.

Lawyers for the US government argue Facebook and Instagram are dominant players in the family/friends market segment, working differently to TikTok or YouTube.

However, Meta’s defence lawyers argue that these platforms only grew to what they are today because Meta made substantial contributions towards their growth.

They also highlighted the fact Meta’s apps are all free to use.

Mr Zuckerberg faced a marathon 12 hours of questioning, which included a discussion of TikTok, which he said is perhaps the biggest threat to both Facebook and Instagram.

Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Picture: AFP

Former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg also testified in Washington DC.

Ms Sandberg echoed most of Mr Zuckerberg’s comments and said the company had to take on an array of rivals as Google increasingly dominated people’s attention.

“Every time you go on your computer or phone, you have a choice of what you spend your time on,” she said.

“That’s what all these producers are competing for: your time and attention.”

The case was originally filed in December 2020, during Donald Trump’s first presidency.

Mr Zuckerberg made repeat visits to the White House in a bid to get the US government to settle the case instead of taking it to court and contributed to Mr Trump’s inauguration fund.

Originally published as Meta’s oversight board rips Zuckerberg’s move to end fact-checking