Biden’s short-lived ‘disinformation czar’ rages at Meta for ditching ‘fact checking’ censors

President Joe Biden’s former disinformation czar has accused Meta of ditching his fact-checkers.

Nina Jankowicz called CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision a ‘complete genuflection’ [Donald] Trump’.

Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that he would replace fact-checkers with a community notes-style system, similar to the one seen on rival Elon Musk’s X site.

The CEO revealed that this move was because ‘fact checkers have simply been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created, especially in the US’

However, Jankowicz dismissed his suggestion in a rant on social media platform Bluesky.

“Let’s be clear: the fact-checkers have not been politically biased, as Zuck suggests, but have been *perceived* as such because of politically motivated efforts to smear them, an effort that Zuck is now participating in and capitulating to,” she says.

“Facebook has already contributed to the demise of journalism and this will be the final nail in the coffin.

“Zuck’s announcement is a complete genuflection to Trump and an attempt to overtake Musk in his race to the bottom.”

Jankowicz slammed CEO Mark Zuckerberg for ‘complete genuflection’ [Donald] Trump” with the decision

The former executive director of the Disinformation Governance Board has previously been outspoken in her criticism of Musk, particularly around his acquisition of Twitter, now X.

Jankowicz also emphasized that the fact-checkers actually promoted freedom of expression.

“The implications will be widespread,” Jankowicz said. ‘Fact checking was not a panacea against disinformation on FB, but it was an important part of moderation. The bumpers have now been completely removed from the track.’

Jankowicz was appointed to her former position in 2022, but resigned just a few months later when the administration was ‘paused’ due to criticism from both parties.

Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged that the controversy within the administration had become a distraction from the department’s other work, including securing the U.S. elections, two officials familiar with his decision said.

Announcing the policy change, Meta wrote in a press release that it hoped to return to a “fundamental commitment to free speech.”

‘Experts, like everyone else, have their own biases and perspectives. This was reflected in the choices some made about what to fact-check and how.

Jankowicz was appointed executive director of President Biden’s doomed Disinformation Governance Board

“Over time, we ended up with too much content that was fact-checked for people to understand that it was legitimate political speech and debate.

‘Our system then attached real consequences to this in the form of intrusive labels and reduced distribution. A program that was intended to inform too often became a means of censorship.’

The platform will now rely on community notes, which allow users to add their own context to posts.

It comes after Trump was banned from Facebook for two years in the wake of the January 6 insurrection.

In 2022, Facebook announced it would stop monitoring his speeches ahead of his second White House run.

“As a normal practice, audiences on our platforms should be able to listen to a former president of the United States, and another declared candidate for that office,” Facebook said in a statement at the time.