President Biden Criticizes Meta for Scrapping Fact-Checking in the US: ‘Really Shameful'

President Biden Criticizes Meta: US President Joe Biden blasted Meta Friday for scrapping fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram in the United States, calling the move "really shameful" after a global network warned of real-world harm if the tech giant expands its decision to other countries.

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg triggered alarm earlier this week when he announced the Palo Alto company was ditching third-party fact-checking in the United States and turning over the task of debunking falsehoods to ordinary users under a model known as “Community Notes,” popularized by X.

He also announced that Facebook and Instagram would relax rules related to political content.

While answering questions from reporters following remarks about the economy, Biden said the move would allow “things that are simply not true” to be read by millions of people.

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“The idea that, you know, a billionaire can buy something and say, ‘By the way, from this point on, we’re not going to we’re not going to fact check anything.’ And you know, when you have millions of people reading, going online, reading this stuff … I think it’s really shameful,” Biden said.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

Biden’s comments come after California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has faced criticism from conservatives for his actions prior to and since the outbreak of wildfires across much of Los Angeles, argued that there has not been enough of a crackdown on disinformation surrounding the fires.

“I ask you: We’ve got to deal with this misinformation. There are hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation. Lies. People want to divide this country, and we’re gonna have to address that as well,” Newsom told Biden on Friday during a briefing on the fires.

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The International Fact-Checking Network has warned of devastating consequences if Meta broadens its policy shift beyond US borders to the company's programs covering more than 100 countries.

"Some of these countries are highly vulnerable to misinformation that spurs political instability, election interference, mob violence and even genocide," IFCN, which includes AFP among dozens of its global member organizations, said in an open letter to Zuckerberg.

"If Meta decides to stop the program worldwide, it is almost certain to result in real-world harm in many places," it added.

He added that the program, which began in 2016, was "destroying so much trust, especially in the United States."

Zuckerberg also expressed regret for giving "too much deference" to the traditional media, criticizing it for pushing the narrative that social media misinformation had swung the 2016 election in favor of Trump.

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