This photo illustration created on January 7, 2025 shows an image of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and an image of the Meta logo.
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meta Employees took part in an internal forum Tuesday to criticize the company’s decision to end third-party fact-checking of its services two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Joel Kaplan, Meta’s new chief global affairs officer and former White House deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush, announces changes to workplace content policy for internal communications tools. Employees voiced their concerns after the incident.
“I am optimistic that these changes will help us return to our fundamental commitment to freedom of expression,” Kaplan wrote in a post seen by CNBC.
The announcement of the content policy follows a series of decisions that appear to be aimed at placating the incoming government. Meta Inc. on Monday added new members to its board of directors, including UFC CEO Dana White, a longtime friend of President Trump, and said the company donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration in December. Confirmed.
Among the latest changes, Kaplan announced that Meta will be discontinuing its fact-checking program in favor of a user-generated system similar to Company X’s Community Notes. Kaplan, who took over his new role last week, also said Meta will lift restrictions on certain topics and focus enforcement on illegal, high-severity violations, while also offering users “more personalized access to political content.” approach.
One worker wrote that he was “deeply concerned” about the decision, saying Meta was “sending a bigger and stronger message to people that facts no longer matter, and confusing that with a victory for free speech.” It seems like there is.”
Another employee commented, “Simply absolving them of their obligation to at least try to create a safe and appropriate platform is a really sad direction.” Other comments expressed concern about the impact the policy change would have on discourse around topics such as immigration, sexual identity, and gender, with one employee saying it would lead to “racist and transphobic comments.” This could lead to an “influx of content.”
Another employee said he feared that “we’re paving the way for more misinformation to spread and we’re moving into really dangerous territory.”
The change was not widely criticized, with some Meta employees celebrating the company’s decision to end third-party fact-checking. One person wrote that X’s community notes feature “proved to be a better representation of the truth.”
Another employee said the company should have “provided an explanation for the initial worst outcomes” that required the creation of a third-party fact-checking program and that the new policy would prevent the same type of fallout from happening again. Commented on whether it is possible.
As part of major layoffs in 2023, Meta also eliminated its internal fact-checking project, CNBC reported. In addition to trusted experts, the project would allow third-party fact checkers such as The Associated Press and Reuters to comment on flagged articles to verify their content.
Meta announced the end of its fact-checking program on Tuesday, but the company had already rescinded it. In September, an Associated Press spokesperson told CNBC that the news agency’s fact-checking contract with Meta ended in January 2024.
Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White gestures and speaks at a rally for Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York, USA on October 27, 2024. .
Andrew Kelly Reuter
Employees posted criticism, questions and jokes on Workplace after White’s addition to the board was announced on Monday, according to posts seen by CNBC. Technology news outlet 404 Media earlier reported on the workplace postings involving White.
White, who has led the UFC since 2001, caused controversy in 2023 when TMZ released a video of him slapping his wife at a New Year’s Eve party in Mexico. White publicly apologized, and his wife, Anne White, released a statement to TMZ calling it an isolated incident.
A commenter on Workplace joked that future performance reviews might include mixed martial arts-style matches.
In addition to White, John Elkann, CEO of Italian car holding company Exor, has been named to Meta’s board.
Some employees asked what value auto and entertainment executives could bring to Meta and whether White’s appointment reflected Meta’s values. One post suggested that new board appointments could lend themselves to political alignment, which could be beneficial but could change corporate culture in unintended or undesirable ways. .
A Workplace comment that alluded to White’s personal history was flagged and removed from the discussion, according to a post on the internal app read by CNBC.
An employee who said he was part of Meta’s internal community relations team posted a reminder on Workplace about the company’s “Community Engagement Expectations” policy (CEE) regarding use of the platform.
“Multiple comments have been flagged by the community for review,” the employee posted. “It’s important to maintain a respectful work environment where people can do their best work.”
A member of the company’s community relations team added: “It is not in line with CEE to insult, criticize or antagonize colleagues or board members.”
Several employees responded to the memo, saying that critical and even respectful posts were being removed, amounting to corporate censorship.
One worker said she wanted to show her support for “women and all voices” as critical comments were being deleted.
Mehta declined to comment.
—CNBC’s Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report.
Notable: Meta adds Dana White, John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst to board of directors.
