New Facebook guidelines, censorship draw mixed reaction from Americans
Americans had mixed reactions to Meta's decision to end its fact-checking program this week, with some telling Fox News Digital that the move was concerning.
"Free speech should be absolute," one respondent told Fox News Digital in Texas. "I don't think anybody has the authority to censor anybody."
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday that it would be ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to "restore free expression" across Facebook, Instagram and other Meta platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have "gone too far." Zuckerberg said the new system for Meta would be similar to Elon Musk's Community Notes on X.
"I like the fact of getting rid of fact-checkers. The fact-checkers weren't really doing much fact-checking, only whoever paid them to fact-check," Rudy told Fox News Digital. "Sounds to me like they can't be trusted. The same thing, just dialed down, a little too late to be doing that. But I think it's better than what they had."
Other Americans told Fox News Digital that the announcement was disappointing.
"That disappoints me, because you want all your social media to be fact-checked as best as possible so you get accurate information. It really concerns me that Facebook may not, you know, go through that process of fact checking, like it should, I believe," Greg told Fox News Digital.
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to "manage content" and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to "political pressure," executives said, but admitted the system has "gone too far."
Multiple people told Fox News Digital they had not heard about Meta's announcement yet.
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"Honestly, a couple of years ago, I probably would have said, 'Well, it's a private company. They have a right to do what they want and people should use their own brains to figure out what's right and what's not, what's true.' But, I'm a psychology student, and I started realizing that people don't always stop and think for themselves, so maybe they need someone else to fact-check for them. So, yeah, it's concerning," Melissa said.
Fox News Digital also asked Texas residents about Zuckerberg moving Meta's content moderation team to their state.
"Yeah, we'll give them a chance and see what the outcome is," Greg said. "I've dropped all my social media, you know, just because it's not fact-checked and it's not policed as well as I believe it should be."
Another Texan, Madeline, told Fox News Digital that Zuckerberg was most likely moving to Texas because businesses are "easier to run" in the state and questioned his reasoning for moving their operation from California.
Elizabeth Heckman reported from Texas.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.