Meta Validates Our Prediction that Information Will Degrade in 2025 by No Longer Fact-Checking Information Posted on Facebook

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In our initial set of predictions for 2025, we said, “The quality of information will degrade because there will be so many different versions.”

Specifically, we cited “different sources offering divergent perspectives and emphasis on the news (FOX News vs. CNN, for example), AI and social media are generating different flavors of information.”

Unfortunately, this month, Meta announced that it would stop fact-checking social media posts on Facebook, Threads and Instagram. Instead, those platforms will rely on users to add notes to posts, like Community Notes on X (formerly Twitter).

According to the New York Times:

Mr. Zuckerberg conceded there would be more ‘”bad stuff” on the platforms as a result of the decision. “The reality is that this is a trade-off,” he said. “It means that we’re going to catch less bad stuff, but we’ll also reduce the number of innocent people’s posts and accounts that we accidentally take down.”

We think this is an ill-advised decision because users and advertisers are already overwhelmed with “bad stuff.” The culture of X is considered so toxic because the platform has reduced fact-checking and reducing hate speech on the platform. Instituting Community Notes to address false facts has not stemmed the tide or reduced misinformation posted on X — to the extent that that millions of users have stopped posting or checking X. And surveys have reported that many users get news from social media while also increasingly distrust the accuracy of sources on social media.

More flavors of information — or, more accurately, of misinformation — will result in less trust in traditional institutions and increasing chasms between Americans depending on where and how they consume news. Meta’s decision will unleash more misinformation at a time when misinformation threatens our national security.

Check out what the Boston Business Journal recently wrote in an editorial, “Why real news matters, and how you can help“:

The need for verifiably factual news is higher than ever, and we’d like to see our readers subscribe not only to the Business Journal, but also other news outlets that do original reporting. National and regional publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios or The Boston Globe are obvious places to go for news, but local news is equally important. A donation to a local nonprofit news source — such as one of our two NPR stations or Commonwealth Beacon, the New Bedford Light or The Belmont Voice, for example — supports important journalism.

Verifiable, factual reported news (as opposed to opinion article, even this one) is more critical than ever. As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”

We need to replace the noise of misinformation with verifiable facts if America is to thrive and deal with real issues and situations.

This move by Meta is a mistake.

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