MAGA fans say the same thing about Meta’s fact-check-u-turn

Many MAGA loyalists aren’t buying the changes at Meta after the social media giant said it will end its fact-checking program in an effort that critics see as an attempt to curry favor with newly elected President Donald Trump.

Meta said that, rather than the fact-checkers, it would rely on users to correct inaccurate and false posts, similar to the community comments on X.

Mark Zuckerberg announced the move in a five-minute video message shared on his Facebook profile on Tuesday, just weeks before Trump returned to the White House.

Conservatives have long accused the social network of censoring conservative content online. But after the announcement, some members of the MAGA movement questioned the timing of the change.

Close Trump ally and former congressman Matt Gaetz, who had to withdraw his name from the nomination for attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations, questioned Meta’s efforts in an online post.

“Are we all in for the Zuck transition or is it, like many modern transitions, a fake? I’m not going all in,” he wrote on X.

Some MAGA loyalists called the move “fake” and indicated they were not all in.

Other Trump supporters responded that it seemed like Zuckerberg was trying to stay out of jail, while some said they would wait and see what the change will mean.

The fact-checking program was implemented by Meta in an effort to reduce the spread of misinformation through its social media apps.

But in his video on Tuesday, Zuckerberg said the recent election “feels like a cultural tipping point toward reprioritizing speech.”

“So we’re going back to our roots and focusing on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring free speech on our platforms,” he said.

While some Trump supporters called the change “fake,” the 78-year-old president-elect praised the move Tuesday, saying Meta “has come a long way.”

When a reporter asked Trump if he thinks Zuckerberg was responding directly to threats Trump had made against him in the past, the president-elect said “probably.”

Former Congressman Matt Gaetz wondered if the Meta shifts before Trump returns to office are “fake.” Many MAGA loyalists responded that the shift is “fake” and that they are not “all in.” Other Trump supporters said they would wait to see what the changes mean

Before the election, Zuckerberg had long been the target of Trump’s ire online.

The president-elect has called him “Zuckerschmuck” and written “Zuckerbucks” in messages. He even threatened to jail Meta’s CEO for life.

But Trump has been less hostile, as a string of tech billionaires have traveled to Florida to meet him since the election and donated millions to his inauguration ahead of his return to the White House.

Zuckerberg was among those who traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet Trump after the election last year.

And while Meta didn’t donate to Biden’s inauguration or Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, it did make a $1 million donation to Trump’s second inauguration.

Trump and Zuckerberg meet here in the Oval Office in September 2019

Last week, Meta named Joel Kaplan, an executive with deep GOP connections, as president of global affairs. Zuckerberg and Kaplan pictured above in 2019 when he was VP of Global Policy

In his video on Tuesday, Zuckerberg claimed that traditional media wrote non-stop that disinformation was a threat to democracy after Trump was first elected in 2016.

“We have tried in good faith to address these concerns without becoming the arbiters of the truth,” Zuckerberg said.

“But the fact-checkers have simply been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created, especially in the US,” he continued.

Zuckerberg admitted the change would lead to more “bad stuff” appearing on Meta’s social media platforms, but argued it would be a “trade-off.”

The move comes after Zuckerberg also added close Trump ally Dana White to Meta’s board of directors on Monday and named Joel Kaplan. an executive with GOP connections, last week as president of global affairs.

In an interview on Fox News on Tuesday morning, Kaplan claimed that the changes at Meta were the result of societal shifts over the past four years.

He also said the company would work closely with Trump to protect the First Amendment and American businesses.

Just four years ago, Trump was kicked off Facebook and other social media accounts following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. That summer, Trump sued for being the victim of censorship.

Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were restored in 2023.