Facebook: Fulfill Responsibility to Curb Spread of False Information

Editorial

16:13 JST, February 2, 2025

Companies that operate social media platforms with an enormous number of users around the world have a responsibility to prevent the spread of false information. These companies should be aware that if they neglect their responsibility, they will lose trust.

Meta, the U.S. operator of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, has announced plans to end its fact-checking program in the United States, which is designed to delete posts deemed to contain false information.

In response to rampant false information that was spread during the 2016 presidential election in which Donald Trump won his first term, Meta commissioned third-party organizations, such as private nonprofit entities, to determine the accuracy of posts. The company has now changed this policy.

Meta is believed to have decided to scrap its fact-checking program because Trump has criticized it as an act of censorship.

This policy shift has raised concerns across the globe. One cannot help but fear the spread of false information will become unstoppable.

Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement that the company will focus on “restoring free expression.” At the same time, he also acknowledged a decrease in the possibility of the company catching malicious posts.

Meta is a tech giant that has billions of users not only in the United States but around the world. The company’s attitude of seemingly abandoning its responsibility is difficult to accept. It is also out of line that Zuckerberg has criticized the European Union’s measures against false information as censorship.

Meta said it will introduce a new program, called “Community Notes,” that allows users to mutually check the veracity of posts on its platforms.

A similar program has already been introduced on X, formerly Twitter, but its effectiveness in curbing the spread of false information is limited. In January, more than 60 universities and research institutions in Germany and Austria issued a joint statement announcing that they would stop using X out of concern over its problematic space for speech.

Meta should bear in mind, if it fails to make an effort to protect a healthy space for speech, the move will lead users to leave its platforms.

Apart from fact-checking, Meta intends to maintain programs to automatically delete posts that could promote discrimination, prejudice and violence, using artificial intelligence and other technologies. These checking programs must not be relaxed.

The Japanese government is also working to counter false information. It has strengthened measures to prevent slander and libel by revising related legislation and compiled a report on measures against fake information in autumn last year.

Unlike its move in the United States, Meta just launched a fact-checking program in Japan in September last year. The government needs to keep a close eye on the company to ensure that this stance is not reversed.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 2, 2025)