Letters | As Meta reins in fact-checking, individuals must step up

Readers discuss the removal of fact-checking programmes from social media, Donald Trump’s expansionist agenda, and child-safe phones

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that his company will end its fact-checking programme for Facebook and Instagram. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:30am, 14 Jan 2025

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Last week, Trump-appointed US District Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily blocked the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on president-elect Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. This ruling withheld key findings, intensifying the global struggle over narrative control.

Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company will end its fact-checking programme for Facebook and Instagram, mirroring Elon Musk’s dismantling of similar guard rails on X, formerly known as Twitter. These developments, along with the rise of deepfakes and other misinformation driven by artificial intelligence (AI), erode public trust in information.

Controlling the story to influence public opinion is nothing new. In the 1920s, Edward Bernays marketed cigarettes as symbols of freedom, their health risks notwithstanding. In the 1970s, Richard Nixon’s White House attempted to frame an investigation into the Watergate scandal as a witch hunt. Investigative journalism ultimately prevailed then, showing that truth could hold power accountable.

Today, trust in information sources is low. A 2022 Pew Research survey found that less than 30 per cent of US adults had a great deal of trust in national news. Political leaders exploit this vacuum, shaping stories for their gain. Perception, not fact, has become the battlefield and repetition often overpowers truth.

Social media platforms are amplifying this problem, rewarding engagement with sensationalism and polarising content. A 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that fake news spreads much faster than the truth. This only deepens societal divisions.