Fact-Checking in Peril: Meta's Shift Affects Trust and Jobs

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has caused a stir by dumping its fact-checking partners. This move has left journalists involved high and dry, and some might even lose their jobs. The company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, claimed that fact-checkers are biased and have ruined trust. But who's really trusting who here? President Trump and his supporters seem pretty happy with the change. They've been at odds with fact-checkers for a while, seeing them as censors rather than truth-seekers. For many, fact-checking helped clean up the internet's wild west of fake news and propaganda. Now, some fact-checking sites might close if Meta stops funding them. Jesse Stiller from Check Your Fact says this will be a big blow to their work. Alan Duke from Lead Stories, a former CNN journalist, was also caught off guard. His site will stay afloat thanks to other funding, but some good journalists might be out of work. Meta's move is like throwing out the lifeguard at a pool party. Without fact-checking, misinformation spreaders can have a field day. Back in 2016, made-up stories caused a ruckus, leading Meta and other tech companies to start fact-checking. Now, Zuckerberg is reversing that. When posts were labeled false, they were shown less. But some people complained this was unfair. Angie Drobnic Holan, from the International Fact-Checking Network, says this will hurt users looking for reliable info. She thinks Zuckerberg's claim about bias is just an excuse from those who want to lie without consequences. Some call this a "war on truth. " In 2016, journalist Dan Gillmor said journalists should call out liars. Well, here we are again. Science Feedback warns that people are at risk of being misled by powerful interests. Meta wants to use a community notes system, where users can correct misleading content. But Science Feedback says this won't work for complex topics. Plus, these users don't have to follow rules or disclose biases. Duke thinks replacing pros with volunteers is dangerous.