Major change to Facebook and Instagram that will impact every Aussie – what you need to know

Experts have warned Australians will be exposed to more abuse and trolling if Facebook and Instagram abandon their specialist fact-checking services.

Meta announced Wednesday that it would scrap its third-party fact-checking program, starting in the United States, over concerns that it hinders freedom of expression.

In a five-minute video message on Facebook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: “We’re going back to our roots and focusing on reducing errors, simplifying our policies and restoring free speech on our platforms.

“More specifically, we will abolish fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the US.”

Digital marketing agency founder Sabri Suby, who also appeared as an investor on the Channel 10 show Shark Tank, said removing the snout would change the algorithm.

“We’re all going to see different content,” he said.

‘This is a step to bring the internet more in line with what it is intended for, namely making free expression possible.

‘And yes, there is certainly an ugly underbelly that will undoubtedly generate a lot of negativity, but that is also the world we live in. You can’t put guardrails on the internet.’

The change, which took place two weeks ago following the return of newly elected US President Donald Trump to the White House, came as no surprise to news and political communications expert Emma Briant.

“With at least 13 billionaires in his new administration, including Big Tech oligarchs like Musk, Trump has sent a powerful message to America’s wealthy right-wing elite: Now is your time, not theirs,” said the associate professor at the Monash University.

“Obviously (Meta boss) Mark Zuckerberg heard him loud and clear. Ordinary citizens should be very concerned.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, meanwhile, warned the social media giants that they “have a social responsibility” to the Australian public.

The fact-checking program typically involves journalists from internationally accredited agencies who investigate and assess social media claims through rigorous questioning, review of evidence and multi-source verification.

Posts deemed “false” or “altered” have a fact-check article attached and may be less distributed across Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and Threads platforms.

Meta announced Wednesday that it would scrap its third-party fact-checking program, starting in the United States, over concerns that it hinders freedom of expression. Stock image

A recent federal survey found that more Australians are concerned about misinformation and disinformation than the global average.

Nearly half of all young Australian adults, and 20 percent across all age groups, use social media as their main news source, according to a 2024 report from the Federal Media Authority.

“Mr Zuckerberg’s decision is all about maximizing Meta’s profits at the expense of community safety and human decency,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told ABC radio on Wednesday.

“It has nothing to do with freedom of speech and everything to do with maximum profits creating outrage, anger, abuse (and) fueling that with secret algorithms that generate maximum profits through their advertising business model.

“It’s dangerous, it will be damaging to democracy, and it will have consequences here in Australia.”

Australian Associated Press said its fact-checking agency AAP FactCheck’s contract with Meta was not affected by the US decision and its work would continue into 2025.

“Independent fact-checkers provide an essential safeguard against the spread of harmful misinformation and disinformation that threatens to undermine free democratic debate in Australia and aims to manipulate public opinion,” said CEO Lisa Davies.

Meta said it decided to end the program because expert fact-checkers had their own biases and ended up checking too much content.

“A program intended to over-inform became a tool to censor,” the report said.

“We think (community notes) can be a better way to achieve our original intent, which was to provide people with information about what they see, and a way that is less prone to bias.”

X’s boss welcomed Meta’s decision, saying the move “couldn’t be more valid” for its own decision to let users control content themselves.

CEO Linda Yaccarino’s statements came despite studies criticizing X Corp’s crowdsourced fact-checking program, Community Notes, which researchers said allowed the spread of misinformation without verification.

“Meta realized this is the most effective and fastest fact-checking, without bias,” she said.

Mr. Zuckerberg threatened governments in Europe, South America and China that Meta would “work with President Trump to push back against foreign governments that go after American companies to censor more.”

He claimed that foreign governments have demanded that Facebook be censored or even taken down and that they will work with Trump to stop this.

Meta said it will move its trust and security teams from liberal California to more conservative Texas, following Elon Musk’s recent moves.

“That will help us build trust to do this work in places where there are fewer concerns about bias from our teams,” Zuckerberg said.

The shift came as the 40-year-old tycoon has made efforts to reconcile with Trump since his election in November, including donating $1 million to his inauguration fund.