JAKARTA: A coalition of Indonesian fact-checking institutions has denounced Meta’s decision to scrap its fact-checking programme in the United States, raising concerns that the tech company may do the same in other countries, exacerbating the spread of false information over digital platforms.
In a statement issued on Jan. 7, Meta announced its decision to end the current third-party fact-checking programme in the US and replace it with a system of “community notes” generated from users; an approach used by Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
"We've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship. It's time to get back to our roots around free expression," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a video accompanying the statement. The changes will affect Facebook, Instagram and Threads, three of the world’s largest social media platforms with more than 3 billion users globally.
The decision was met with criticism from cekfakta.com, an official fact-checking website created in a collaborative project involving dozens of mainstream media organisations in Indonesia. The group said shutting down the fact-checking programme in the US may lead to similar decisions for the company’s programmes in other countries.
“Such a policy can weaken the efforts to fight against false information in Meta platforms, especially in countries with low levels of digital literacy,” cekfakta.com wrote in a statement issued on Jan 10. “This policy from Meta may also trigger the massive spread of hoaxes and propaganda in the country, thanks to the huge numbers of users for the company’s platforms in Indonesia.”
By early 2024, there were 174 million Facebook users in Indonesia, representing around 63 per cent of the country’s population, according to data from Poland-based platform NapoleonCat.com. It was estimated in January of last year that there were nearly 90 million Instagram users in Indonesia.
The figures “show Meta’s responsibility to ensure that its platforms are not misused to spread false and misleading information,” cekfakta.com wrote. The group added that using notes generated from users and other algorithm-based content moderation efforts would be less effective compared to fact-checking by independent media outlets.
Based on such concerns, the coalition demanded that Meta clarify the fate of its supported fact-checking programmes outside the US and double its support for fact-checking programmes across the world. The Jakarta Post reached out to Meta on Sunday for a comment but has not heard back from the company.
During the transition to the new “community notes” programme, the California-based tech company will “get rid” of its fact-checking control and stop demoting fact-checked content. It will also use a “less obtrusive label” to indicate additional information for content posted on the platform.
Meta will also discard restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender identity that “are subject of frequent political discourse and debate”, while upholding censorship for “illegal and high-severity violations”, such as terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud and scams. Warnings or other actions for “less severe policy violations” will depend on reports from other users.
The move to scrap the independent fact-checking programme was seen as Meta’s biggest overhaul of its approach to managing political content on its platforms and came as Zuckerburg signaled a desire to mend fences with the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump, AFP reported.
Meta also appointed Joel Kaplan, Republican policy executive, as its global affairs head as well as Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and Trump’s close friend, to its board. Meta’s recent decision was lambasted by several parties, including US President Joe Biden, who called the move “shameful”.
Biden made his remark after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had refused to comment on the decision. “It’s just completely contrary to everything America’s about. We want to tell the truth,” the President said on Jan 10. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
