Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram’s content moderation policies, including abandoning independent factcheckers in the US, in what critics call a “major step back” for public discourse.
Zuckerberg revealed on Tuesday that factcheckers would be replaced by user-generated “community notes” similar to those on X, whilst content moderation teams would relocate from California to Texas “where there is less concern about the bias of our teams”.
The changes, which Zuckerberg framed as a move to “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship”, come weeks before Donald Trump’s anticipated return to power.
Former US disinformation official Nina Jankowicz described the announcement as “a full bending of the knee to Trump”.
The Meta chief acknowledged the shifts would mean “we’re going to catch less bad stuff” while maintaining focus on “legitimately bad stuff” like drugs, terrorism and child exploitation.
He defended the decision by claiming factcheckers were “too politically biased” – an allegation factchecking organisations strongly deny.
The announcement follows recent leadership changes at Meta, including the departure of Nick Clegg as president of global affairs, replaced by Republican Joel Kaplan. UFC chief executive and Trump supporter Dana White has also joined Meta’s board.
Campaigners and rights groups condemned the moves. Global Witness called it “a blatant attempt to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration”, warning of increased dangers for vulnerable groups online.
Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly died after viewing harmful content on Instagram, expressed dismay at reduced proactive moderation.
Meta maintains it will continue treating content about suicide, self-injury and eating disorders as “high-severity violations”.
UK officials stressed that Britain’s Online Safety Act would still require Meta to remove illegal and harmful content, regardless of US policy changes.
Chris Morris of Full Fact called the announcement “a backwards step”, while the International Fact-Checking Network rejected accusations of bias, saying critics “feel they should be able to exaggerate and lie without rebuttal”.
