In a controversial move announced on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is terminating its partnerships with third-party fact-checkers.
In his statement, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained, “Our focus is on building platforms that foster free expression and community engagement. While fact-checking was important during critical moments, it no longer aligns with our vision.”
Meta’s decision marks a departure from Facebook’s stance after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The platform faced intense scrutiny for spreading misinformation, including false news allegedly traced to the Russian state, that analysts believe influenced voter decisions. In 2021, Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook as Meta to shed its tarnished image and focus on ventures like the Metaverse.
Critics suggest that the latest move is politically motivated. This shift reflects an effort to align with Trump’s brand of pretzeling information and facts, making Facebook and Instagram more malleable to false narratives. Like other ultra-billionaires, including Elon Musk, Zuckerberg appears to be currying favor with Trump to ensure business-friendly policies under his administration.
The shift parallels Musk’s approach at Twitter, rebranded as X in October 2023. Musk removed content-moderation systems, reinstated banned accounts, and promoted “free speech absolutism.” This has turned X into a platform rife with misinformation and inflammatory content, drawing widespread criticism from watchdog organizations and rights advocates.
Musk has also used his own X account to amplify misinformation. Earlier this month, he called for regime change in the U.K.—where Labour came to power last year—alleging without evidence that authorities were ignoring child sexual abuse cases involving “grooming gangs” allegedly run by Muslim men, specifically Pakistani-Britons. The allegation of inaction has been widely debunked.
Billionaires with outsized influence are taking a pragmatic approach to political realities.
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Michael de Adder resigned from The Washington Post in December, citing “censorship by corporate ownership” after owner Jeff Bezos reportedly imposed editorial restrictions. The offending cartoon depicted billionaires, including media owners, worshipping at the altar of Trump—a truth Bezos apparently found too inconvenient to publish. De Adder’s resignation underscores growing concerns about billionaire influence over public discourse.
Meta’s decision to cut fact-checkers, coupled with Musk’s actions at X and Bezos’s editorial controls, fits a troubling pattern. As these platforms increasingly prioritize profit over truth, the implications for democracy and societal trust are far-reaching—and deeply troubling.