This 180-degree change is a response to Donald Trump's impending second presidential term and the ways of competition, Like X's community notesMeta decided not to invest any more money in its program. Now, she hopes Facebook and Instagram users will decide for themselves what content is or isn't disinformation.
In the statement where Zuckerberg announced he would end the program, he said fact-checkers succumbed to political bias, destroying more trust in America than they had built. However, for Laura Zomer, former director, and now leader, of Chequedo (one of the most important Spanish-speaking validator organizations) and LATAMCHECU factchecked (a verified media targeted at the Latino community in the US), Zuckerberg's statements are no surprise, and he does not have scientific evidence for his claims. Zomer says, “Far from censoring, fact-checkers add context. We never advocate removing content. We want citizens to have better information to make their decisions.”
Zomer, who is skeptical about what Meta could gain from the program's dissolution, insists that the company contradicts itself by ending the fact-checking program, especially because it has done so in the past. Positive results have been highlighted. Zomer also agrees with Angie Drobnik Holan, current director of IFCN, who wrote in a LinkedIn PostWrote: “It is unfortunate that this decision comes in the wake of extreme political pressure from a new administration and its supporters. Factcheckers have not been biased in their work – the attack line comes from those who feel they have been overestimated.” “Must be able to speak and lie without contradiction or contradiction.”
As Trump, just days away from his inauguration, threatens mass deportations of immigrants, the Hispanic community is facing a potential new wave of disinformation. “The evidence makes us think it would be bad. We'll see until it's implemented, but we can say that, during the Trump campaign, one of the main disinformation narratives was against immigrants, As it was said that immigrants would commit fraud, past data shows that this decision is likely to have a negative impact on Latino communities in the United States,” Zomer told WIRED en Español.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric isn't the only thing threatening the ecosystem. In an era where deepfake video and audio scams are spreading, having viable information will be a priority.
Spanish-language fact-checking media is in danger
The Latin American news ecosystem, with its economic weakness, is at risk. “Facebook's fact-checking program payments were still keeping fact-checking organizations and news organizations with a fact-checking section afloat. So I think, most likely, if these organizations don't manage to diversify soon If so, many of them are going to disappear,” says disinformation research editor Pablo Medina. Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism, CLIP,
Although the decision currently only applies to the US, the project's disappearance has raised concerns across the Hispanic media ecosystem. “Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's attack on the 'secret courts' fueling censorship of the platform in Latin America – a false claim – shows that Brazil is the focus of the company's concerns,” says Tai Nalon. CEO of AOS FatosOne of the most important fact-checking media in the Global South.
“This is completely in line with the rhetoric of Donald Trump, who is a regular critic of journalism and fact-checking,” says Nallon. The arguments used by Zuckerberg have been widely exploited by the far right around the world to delegitimize effective initiatives against misinformation. , Since there has never been any dissatisfaction with the work of fact-checkers before, it appears to me to be a move aimed at gaining some political mileage. We know that Meta is facing antitrust cases in the US and being closer to the government could be beneficial for the company.
Meanwhile, as Laura Zomer says, evidence from the past gives the news ecosystem cause for concern.
WIRED en español contacted Meta for this story. Through a media representative, the company replied Statement of decision (in Spanish). And said that this does not apply to WhatsApp and is only for US verifiers.
This story was originally published on Wired in Español And it has been translated from Spanish.