‘Blindsided’ fact-checkers may go out of business after Zuckerberg’s pivot due to lost revenue

Fact-checkers say they were “blindsided” after Facebook’s parent company Meta announced it would be changing policies and terminating contracts.

Meta previously dove into using fact-checking efforts to combat what it determined was “misinformation” and touted building the “largest global fact-checking network of any platform” back in 2023. But, with President-elect Donald Trump triumphantly returning to the White House in one week, the company has joined others in pivoting on previous stances.

The company’s announced change in policy and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s explanation of moving toward a system similar to Community Notes on the X platform has put fact-checkers on notice.

“We don’t have much time left. At this rate, we are done in a few months,” Jesse Stiller, the managing editor for Check Your Fact, told Fox News Digital.

“We were blindsided by this. This was totally unexpected and out of left field for us. We weren’t aware this decision was being considered until Mark dropped the video overnight. We have no idea what the future looks like for the website going forward,” he said.

Third-party fact-checkers that worked with the company in the U.S. included: AFP – Hub, Check Your Fact, Factcheck.org, Lead Stories, PolitiFact, Science Feedback, Reuters Fact Check, TelevisaUnivision, The Dispatch and USA Today, according to Fox News.

“All 10 of these partners are expected to lose their funding. It is unclear when or if Meta’s changes will affect overseas fact-checkers,” the outlet reported.

Meta’s decision is a “disappointing cop-out” that “perpetuates a misunderstanding of its own program,” according to Neil Brown, president of the Poynter Institute which is the parent organization for PolitiFact.

“Facts are not censorship. Fact-checkers never censored anything. And Meta always held the cards. It’s time to quit invoking inflammatory and false language in describing the role of journalists and fact-checking,” Brown said.

Alan Duke, co-founder of the fact-checker Lead Stories, said the cut will mean a “staffing reduction” for the company where several former CNN alumni are employed.

“Cutting fact-checkers from social platforms is like disbanding your fire department,” he told CNN.

However, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, noted in a recent interview that the fact-checkers had shown bias in their work.

“We went to independent, third-party fact-checkers,” he told Fox News Digital. “It has become clear there is too much political bias in what they choose to fact-check because, basically, they get to fact-check whatever they see on the platform.”

Frieda Powers

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