Meta’s New Free Speech Policy is a No-Brainer: Jake Morabito in The Orange County Register
It’s time to embrace the messiness of the virtual public square and carry on America’s storied legacy of free expression.
In his latest op-ed for the Orange County Register, ALEC Communications and Technology Task Force Senior Director Jake Morabito lauded Meta’s decision to replace third-party fact-checking with a user-driven Community Notes model.
When Elon Musk acquired Twitter and transformed it into X, he reignited the platform’s dedication to safeguarding the freedom of expression in the digital age. Positioned as a stronghold for free speech, X has sparked a broader conversation across the tech industry, with other platforms now exploring features to emphasize open dialogue and robust expression.
At the start of the new year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan announced a significant shift in the company’s content moderation strategy. Meta, admitting previous attempts at moderation have fallen into the realm of censorship, will end its third-party fact check program, and adopt a Community Notes model powered by contributing users with diverse perspectives.
Similar to X, Meta’s Community Notes will provide users the ability to rate and critique potentially misleading information on the platform. Users will have the option to view additional context and decide for themselves whether a post is truthful or not.
Meta plans to withdraw from its fact-checking operation once Community Notes are implemented. The company also pledged to no longer “limit legitimate political debate,” demote fact-checked posts, nor obscure controversial posts with large warning labels.