EDITORIAL - Bad for the truth

Social media giant Meta made news recently when it announced that it was dropping independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram.

Last Tuesday, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderators were "too politically biased" and it was "time to get back to our roots around free expression.”

In place of fact checkers, Meta is replacing them with X-style "community notes" where “commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users”.

Many are seeing this move as Meta’s way of cozying up with US President-elect Donald Trump, who often gets in trouble whenever fact-checkers challenge his statements.

While some may say this is a smart move on the part of “The Zuck”, we think this is a big blow to the truth. Don’t get us wrong, we have nothing against freedom of expression. But freedom of expression is one thing, and being allowed to spread lies is quite another.

Yes, this is the Age of Information, the internet has made it easier for people to access the information they are seeking and any question they ask can be answered by anyone.

But this is also the Age of Misinformation, and the rub is the not all sources out there are trustworthy or accurate. It gets even worse; some “sources” actually seek to deliberately spread lies or falsehoods for their own advantage or to keep some truths hidden.

Trump has become notorious for resorting to lies to make himself look good and whoever he wants to look bad, and he often got called out for them in social media. But now it seems that will no longer be the case.

But then again this isn’t just about Trump, no. Because there will be no more fact-checkers, we can expect social media platforms under Meta to become a haven for those who want to spread lies and falsehoods and get away with it.