Meta’s Insane Pandering Retreat from Fact Checking Speeds Race to the Bottom

Real Facebook Oversight Board
2 min read3 hours ago

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J​ust Days Ahead of Inauguration, Zuck’s Musk Envy Clears Path for Torrent of Unchecked Trump Lies; A “Cultural Tipping Point Indeed” as Meta Goes Full MAGA.

7 January 2025 — The Real Facebook Oversight Board issued the following statement in response to Meta’s abandonment of fact checking:

Meta’s announcement today is a retreat from any sane and safe approach to content moderation. ‘Censorship’ is a manufactured crisis, political pandering to signal that Meta’s platforms are open for business to far-right propaganda. Twitter’s shift from fact checking has turned the platform into a cesspool; Zuck is joining them in a race to the bottom.

The announcement — made on Fox News by Meta’s new conservative hire — shows Zuck’s Musk envy, complete with a move from California to Texas for the fact checking operation, with unknown legal impacts.

Meanwhile, Meta’s neutered and worthless Oversight Board praised the change, putting lipstick on a pig as their mission is further degraded.

President Trump, Elon Musk and now Mark Zuckerberg are not champions for free expression. They are extremists who want common sense voices silenced, and conservative disinformation to flourish without correction. Mark Zuckerberg is right: this is a cultural tipping point indeed, as Meta has now gone full MAGA.

All who are concerned about a slide into techno authoritarianism should be deeply alarmed by this action, as Meta further degrades the integrity of its platforms. Just days ahead of the inauguration, Meta — like Twitter — is retooling to allow the Trump administration’s propaganda and obfuscations to flow unchecked.

Real Facebook Oversight Board members are available for interviews. Statements do not reflect the individual positions of all Real Facebook Oversight Board Members. Contact us at media@the-citizens.com. The Real Facebook Oversight Board is an emergency response to the ongoing harms on Facebook’s platforms from leading global scholars, experts and advocates.

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Real Facebook Oversight Board
Real Facebook Oversight Board

Written by Real Facebook Oversight Board

An emergency response to the ongoing harms on Facebook’s platforms from leading global scholars, experts and advocates.

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