THE FATBOY SHOW : Meta to end fact-checking, replacing it with community-driven system akin to Elon Musk's X.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday said the social media company is ending its fact-checking program and replacing it with a community-driven system similar to that of Elon Musk's X. 

Zuckerberg cited the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election as underlying the decision, calling it a "cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech." Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video. "We're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the U.S."

The changes will impact Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram — which have billions of users — as well as Threads.

The systems put in place to moderate its platforms make too many mistakes, Zuckerberg stated. 

Meta introduced its fact-checking program in 2016 as part of an effort to curb misinformation. The initiative was launched in response to criticism over Facebook's role in spreading false claims during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. A 2023 statement from Meta said the fact-checking program had "expanded to include nearly 100 organizations working in more than 60 languages globally."