Monash expert: Meta gets rid of independent fact checkers
Meta is abandoning the use of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, replacing them with "community notes" where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users.
Available for comment:
Emma Briant, Associate Professor, News and Political Communication, Monash University
Contact: +61 3 9903 4840 or emma.briant@monash.edu
Comments attributable to Dr Briant:
“Anyone surprised by this news learned nothing from Mark Zuckerberg's role in the Cambridge Analytica affair.
“While they may pay lip service to the policy concerns of the moment, tech oligarchs run their companies to maximise profits and minimise costs, not to be society's protector or mediate a neutral, democratic town hall.
“This applies to all of them, not just Elon Musk.
“There is nothing to stop tech oligarchs weaponising their platforms to suit political objectives when the moment is right.
“Fact-checking is only one small part of the solution to the problem of contemporary propaganda. Policymakers often put too much faith in labelling false claims, and in so doing they miss an opportunity to take on the larger problems of a manipulative technology infrastructure hiding behind claims of neutrality and free speech.
“With at least 13 billionaires in his new administration, including Big Tech oligarchs like Musk, Trump has sent a powerful message across America's wealthy right wing elite - now is your time, not theirs.
“Clearly Mark Zuckerberg heard him loud and clear. Ordinary citizens should be very concerned.”
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