Anthony Albanese should fufil ‘social responsibility’ as Meta to slash censorship

Anthony Albanese pledged to push on with his government’s social media crackdown despite tech giant Meta’s plan to scrap fact-checking on its platforms.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to push on with his government’s social media crackdown, including a ban for under 16s, despite tech giant Meta’s plan to scrap fact-checking on its platforms.

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, citing mission creep in its third-party fact-checking network, announced Facebook, Instagram and Threads would move to an X-style community notes system.

Mr Albanese told reporters on Wednesday his government would “stand up for Australia’s national interests”.

“I have met too many parents who have lost their young ones as a result of the impact that social media has had,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: NewsWire/John Gass

“We know that the rise in mental health issues for young people is linked with social media – all of the experts tell us that is the case.

“We will continue to act in our national interest and I say to social media they have a social responsibility and they should fulfil it.”

He also praised eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who had several clashes with X owner Elon Musk last year after the tech baron refused to take down graphic videos of stabbings in Sydney circulating on his platform.

META TO SLASH FACT CHECKERS IN PRO-TRUMP MOVE

Social media giant Meta has slashed its content moderation policies, including ending its US fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram, in a major shift that conforms with the priorities of incoming US president Donald Trump.

“We’re going to get rid of fact-checkers (that) have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the US,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post.

Instead, Meta platforms including Facebook and Instagram, “would use community notes similar to X (formerly Twitter), starting in the US,” he added.

Meta’s surprise announcement echoed longstanding complaints made by Donald Trump’s Republican Party and X owner Elon Musk about fact-checking, which many conservatives see as censorship.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is loosening censorship across Meta’s platforms ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration. Picture: AFP

They argue that fact-checking programs disproportionately target right-wing voices, which has led to proposed laws in states like Florida and Texas to limit content moderation.

“This is cool,” Mr Musk posted on his X platform after the announcement. Mr Zuckerberg, in a nod to Mr Trump’s victory, said that “recent elections feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritising speech” over moderation.

The shift came as the 40-year-old tycoon has been making efforts to reconcile with Mr Trump since his election in November, including donating one million dollars to his inauguration fund.

Mr Trump has been a harsh critic of Meta and Mr Zuckerberg for years, accusing the company of bias against him and threatening to retaliate against the tech billionaire once back in office.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Mr Trump when asked if he believed the move was a response to his threats against Mr Zuckerberg, responded: “Probably, yeah.”

Mark Zuckerberg says he is removing fact checkers and censorship from Meta platforms to eliminate ‘Facebook jail’ and other ‘biased’ features. Picture: AFP

The Republican was kicked off Facebook following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters, though the company restored his account in early 2023.

Mr Zuckerberg, like several other tech leaders, has met with Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida ahead of his January 20 inauguration.

As part of the overhaul, Meta said it will relocate its trust and safety teams from liberal California to more conservative Texas.

“That will help us build trust to do this work in places where there is less concern about the bias of our teams,” Mr Zuckerberg said.

Mr Zuckerberg said that Meta would “work with President Trump to push back against foreign governments going after American companies to censor more.”

Additionally, Meta announced it would reverse its 2021 policy of reducing political content across its platforms.

AFP currently works in 26 languages with Facebook’s fact-checking program, in which Facebook pays to use fact-checks from around 80 organisations globally on its platform, WhatsApp and Instagram.

In that program, content rated “false” is downgraded in news feeds so fewer people will see it and if someone tries to share that post, they are presented with an article explaining why it is misleading.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (right) speaks on stage as he joins Donald Trump during a campaign rally. Mark Zuckerberg will have Meta copy X’s ‘Community Notes’ feature rather than use fact checkers. Picture: AFP

Mr Zuckerberg said that Facebook and Instagram would in future imitate rival X’s “Community Notes” feature rather than using professional fact-checkers.

Community Notes on X (formerly Twitter) allows users to collaboratively add context to posts in a system that aims to distil reliable information through consensus rather than top-down moderation.

The feature “empower(s) their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading” thanks to “people across a diverse range of perspectives,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post.

Meta’s move into fact-checking came in the wake of Trump’s shock election in 2016, which critics said was enabled by rampant disinformation on Facebook and interference by foreign actors, including Russia, on the platform.