ELON MUSK GIVES THREE WORD RESPONSE TO META ON THEIR PLANS TO COPY X

Zuckerberg established Facebook in 2004 and currently has a net worth of $213 billion. After purchasing Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, Meta introduced Threads in 2023 as a rival to Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter. Meta's three social media platforms are planning to remove third-party fact-checking in the US to relax moderation.

Posts that seem inaccurate or deceptive are referred to independent organisations for verification as part of Meta's fact-checking program, launched in 2016. Inaccurate posts are marked with more details and context.

In a video update, Zuckerberg stated that the system is being eliminated to restore "free speech.” Rather, Meta is moving to a Community Notes system akin to X, where users can mark content as inaccurate or deceptive. According to Zuckerberg, the decision was made to "restore free speech” on its platforms and "reduce mistakes" made by automated content moderation systems, which Meta felt amounted to censorship in certain instances. He also accused some fact-checkers of being biased themselves. Outside of the US, fact-checking procedures will continue as usual. The fact-checking group Full Fact, which verifies Facebook posts in Europe, referred to Meta's decision as a "backwards step."

The chief executive Chris Morris said: "We absolutely refute Meta's charge of bias - we are strictly impartial, fact check claims from all political stripes with equal rigour, and hold those in power to account through our commitment to truth. Similar to Meta, fact-checkers are dedicated to promoting free speech grounded in reliable information without using censorship. However, excluding fact-checkers from discussions won't assist society in combating the rapidly growing amount of false information. Initially launched on X in 2021, the community notes system gained traction following Musk's acquisition of the social media behemoth in 2023.

It enables program participants to reply to potentially contentious posts in a break-out box with additional context and clarifications. After that, people can vote on whether or not they think the annotations are useful. Additionally, Musk, a vocal supporter of "free speech," has since addressed Zuckerberg's moderation adjustments.

Musk merely replied, "This is cool," after posting a screenshot of an article from the Free Speech Union with the headline, "Facebook dumps fact-checkers in attempt to 'restore' free speech," to his X profile.

The Meta changes come weeks before President-elect Donald Trump - who previously criticised Meta's fact-checking policy - takes office. Trump even threatened Zuckerberg with life in prison at one point. Trump said at a news conference: "Honestly, I think they have come a long way, Meta, Facebook."