Meta will begin rolling out its Community Notes program in the US next week, a significant shift in the way the company approaches fact-checking on its services. Meta had previously suspended its third-party fact-checking program, in which the company contracted with outside groups to fact-check content, because the initiative was criticized as being biased and not scalable. The new process takes its cue from one used by X (formerly Twitter), where users can add context to possibly misleading tweets.
Community Notes will allow users to author and vote on notes relating to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads content. Notes can be background information, tips, or advice found helpful by the users. Several contributors who do not usually agree need to give approval to a note before it gets published as being helpful. This feature is intended to provide a rich and community-driven way of handling misinformation.
To write on Community Notes, users must be 18 years or older, have an account older than six months and in good standing, and have a verified phone number or be registered for two-factor authentication. The feature will be released initially in six languages popular in the United States, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, and Portuguese. Meta will extend to other languages later.
The initiative to introduce Community Notes is Meta’s effort to make its platforms once more open to free expression. Its existing third-party fact-checking system, the company said, had instead turned into a barrier to its efforts to do so. In allowing users to add context, Meta is hoping to reach a community that is inclusive of various ideas.
Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, Joel Kaplan, clarified that content with community notes would not be limited in distribution and users won’t be punished for putting notes. It’s a break from the past where flagged content may have been restricted. The action is part of a broader play to boost user engagement and trust by empowering the community to take a more active part in content moderation.
The release of Community Notes within the United States is considered to be the feature’s break-or-make time, and the nation is Meta’s most lucrative market. It is a feature that is also raising eyebrows in terms of rolling it out into regions like the European Union, where there is intense regulatory pressure. The European Commission is already investigating X over whether its Community Notes feature is effective, something that could also influence the global expansion plans of Meta.
Meta’s move is part of a larger trend on social media platforms towards accepting community-led content moderation strategies. The move is driven by a desire to balance free speech with the need to effectively combat misinformation. By engaging users more actively in the process, Meta seeks to make the system more robust and credible for dealing with false information.
