An Urgent Meeting of the Fact-Check Legion of Doom
Fact-checkers, assemble! The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss a recent setback: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is cutting off the gravy train.
Zuckerberg announced earlier this week that his platforms would part ways with the third-party fact-checking organizations he had employed to police speech on Facebook and Instagram.
“The fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.,” he said in a video announcement.
This is a significant admission. For years, dissident commentators—primarily right-leaning and libertarian ones, but some leftists as well—have complained that Facebook’s fact-checkers were heavy-handed and prone to error. To take just two examples, they erroneously described as misleading a climate change video by John Stossel and a short post about mask mandates written by me. That Zuckerberg now agrees with this criticism is a hugely positive development for everyone who would like the platform to take a more hands-off approach to the moderation of political speech.
Fact-checkers very much do not put themselves in this category. They are furious that their expertise is being questioned and that their power to censor speech will be taken away. They are so furious that they are actually attempting to argue that they never held this power in the first place. “We did not, and could not, remove content,” wrote Lori Robertson, managing editor of Meta fact-checking partner FactCheck.org. “Any decisions to do that were Meta’s.”
This is misleading. Or, to put it in the parlance that FactCheck.org might understand: This claim is missing important context. The deal was that Meta would pay certain fact-checking organizations to monitor the platforms and would then ta
Article from Reason.com
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.
