The end of fact-checking at Meta is raising fresh concerns its platforms will become a hotbed of disinformation as the network hands over the policing of content to users.

The move, coupled with the loosening of some hate speech rules, was slammed by some tech policy experts as a 180-degree shift for Meta that could undo nearly a decade of efforts to prevent disinformation from spreading on its platforms — Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

While Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg framed the decision as a return to the company’s “roots” in an embrace of free speech, some observers worry today’s political and digital climate leaves too much room for false information to spread online.

“You get rid of the fact-checkers and people that are sort of policing the content ... that [could] be a turbo-charged engine for disinformation,” Ari Lightman, a digital media professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told The Hill.

“Disinformation is very sensational in terms of its orientation. It’s designed to draw people in, it’s designed to be confrontational,” he said.

The fact-checking program was created in 2016 amid mounting scrutiny after it was revealed Russia attempted to use Facebook to influence the U.S. election that year. In the years that followed, the platform repeatedly boosted the program, with more than 80 independent fact-checkers.

The social media giant launched various other disinformation initiatives, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to spot COVID-19 and vaccine disinformation to suspending the account of President-elect Trump for his remarks around the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

The fact-checkers, however, did not monitor or judge the speech of elected officials on its platforms.

Now, Zuckerberg appears to be changing his tune on Trump, a longtime critic of social media companies for what he believes is censorship of his views.

“Four years ago this week, Facebook banned Donald Trump for inciting a violent insurrection that resulted in the deaths of 5 people and disrupted our democracy,” Nicole Gill, the co-founder and........

© The Hill