"Politically motivated"

Fact checkers criticize Zuckerberg’s U-turn

Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg surprisingly announced on Tuesday that he was ending his cooperation with fact-checkers.

(Bild: AFP/Drew ANGERER)

European fact-checking organizations have expressed their disappointment at the announcement by the Facebook group Meta that it is ending its cooperation with fact-checkers. The move is "politically motivated" in connection with Donald Trump's imminent inauguration, according to a statement from the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN). 

Equating fact-checking with censorship is a "false and malicious claim". Fact-checking is not censorship, but enriches public debates, provides context and facts so that everyone can form their own opinion, writes the EFCSN. "Fact-checking has proven to be an effective tool against misinformation, time and time again," the network emphasized.

Facebook founder and CEO Marc Zuckerberg surprisingly announced in a video on Tuesday that he would be ending his cooperation with fact-checkers and would intervene less strongly in the spread of false claims on his platforms in future. Fact checkers had been too "politically biased" and had destroyed a lot of trust, Zuckerberg said.

Instead of flagging posts with false claims and the linked fact checks, there will only be so-called community notes in future - similar to X (formerly Twitter). This means that every user can evaluate posts and their truthfulness themselves.

Journalistic standards guaranteed by independent review
It is "simply wrong" that fact-checkers are too politically biased, the EFCSN emphasized in its statement. Fact-checkers are subject to the "highest journalistic standards of unbiased reporting, transparency, integrity and accountability", with organizations such as the EFCSN upholding these standards through independent verification.

Concerns about election interference
In view of upcoming elections in several European countries, the network warned of increasing election interference by foreign actors if the fight against disinformation is reduced. The EU must therefore stick to enforcing its own laws, "even if other countries exert pressure". The EFCSN encourages the European Union to "stand up to political pressure" and not be deterred in its efforts to stop the spread of misinformation and disinformation on major online platforms, it said.

Nobel laureate Ressa warns of "extremely dangerous times"
Filipino journalist and Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa also expressed concern about Zuckerberg's decision. In an interview with the AFP news agency on Wednesday, Ressa warned of "extremely dangerous times ahead" for democracy, journalism and online media users.

Zuckerberg is not concerned with freedom of speech and opinion. "Mark Zuckerberg says it's a question of freedom of speech - that's completely wrong." She added: "Only if you're profit-driven can you say that. Only if you want power and money can you claim that," Ressa said. Ending the fact-checking program would lead to a "world without facts," she said. And a world without facts paves the way for dictators.

U-turn
Just a few months ago, in the run-up to the EU elections in May last year, Meta had emphasized how effective the labeling of fact-checked disinformation was. "Between July and December 2023, for example, over 68 million pieces of content on Facebook and Instagram in the EU were given a fact-check label. When a post is labeled for fact-checking, 95 percent of users do not click through to view the post," the company announced at the time.