Meta said it would start testing "Community Notes" in the U.S. from March 18, using technology developed by Elon Musk-owned X, two months after the Facebook parent decided to scrap its fact-checking program amid pressure from conservatives.
Under the system, Meta will let users write and rate notes to flag false or misleading content across Instagram, Facebook and Threads, shifting fact-checking from dedicated third-party teams to a crowd-sourced model. Around 200,000 U.S. users have signed up to become potential contributors, it said on Thursday.
The switch to Community Notes marks the company's biggest overhaul of its approach to managing content on its services in recent memory and comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been signaling a desire to mend fences with the Trump administration.
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President Donald Trump had welcomed Meta's move in January, suggesting it was "probably" a response to his criticism of social media firms for allegedly silencing conservative viewpoints on their platforms.
To roll out the new system, Meta will use the open-source algorithm from X as the basis of its rating system. The rival social media platform, owned by Trump-ally Musk, revamped its community-driven fact-checking feature Birdwatch to Community Notes in 2022.
Meta's Community Notes feature will be capped at 500 characters and initially available in six languages - English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Portuguese.
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These notes will not have author names attached to them, it said. A note will only be published if contributors with differing viewpoints agree that it provides helpful context.
Contributors must be over 18 years of age and include a supporting link to post notes, Meta said, touting the system as "less biased" than the third-party fact-checking program it replaces.
Once Community Notes go live, third-party fact-check labels will no longer appear in the U.S., Meta said.
The company, which has more than 3 billion users worldwide, currently partners with nearly 100 certified fact-checking organizations in over 60 languages, according to its website.
Under the system, Meta will let users write and rate notes to flag false or misleading content across Instagram, Facebook and Threads, shifting fact-checking from dedicated third-party teams to a crowd-sourced model. Around 200,000 U.S. users have signed up to become potential contributors, it said on Thursday.
The switch to Community Notes marks the company's biggest overhaul of its approach to managing content on its services in recent memory and comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been signaling a desire to mend fences with the Trump administration.
ALSO READ: US citizens earning under $150,000 annually to pay no tax? Trump's big plan revealed
President Donald Trump had welcomed Meta's move in January, suggesting it was "probably" a response to his criticism of social media firms for allegedly silencing conservative viewpoints on their platforms.
To roll out the new system, Meta will use the open-source algorithm from X as the basis of its rating system. The rival social media platform, owned by Trump-ally Musk, revamped its community-driven fact-checking feature Birdwatch to Community Notes in 2022.
Meta's Community Notes feature will be capped at 500 characters and initially available in six languages - English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Portuguese.
ALSO READ: Amid tariff battle, Trump comes up with new rule for Canadians who stay in US for over a month: 10 points
These notes will not have author names attached to them, it said. A note will only be published if contributors with differing viewpoints agree that it provides helpful context.
Contributors must be over 18 years of age and include a supporting link to post notes, Meta said, touting the system as "less biased" than the third-party fact-checking program it replaces.
Once Community Notes go live, third-party fact-check labels will no longer appear in the U.S., Meta said.
The company, which has more than 3 billion users worldwide, currently partners with nearly 100 certified fact-checking organizations in over 60 languages, according to its website.
