Meta Introduces Independent Fact-Checking Program For Threads

Meta Platforms Inc META is launching a separate, third-party fact-checking program for its social media platform Threads.

What Happened: Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced the fact-checking program on a Thread late Tuesday night. “…we recently rolled out the ability for our third-party fact-checking partners to review and rate false content on Threads,” Mosseri said.

The system formerly used by Meta only applied to Threads content that was identical to Facebook and Instagram content. “Now fact-checkers can rate Threads content on its own,” Mosseri said.

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Why It Matters: The announcement coincides with increased social media scrutiny ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Threads is positioned as a competitor to Elon Musk’s X. The platform saw rapid growth after its introduction in July 2023 but declining growth in user activity in the months afterward. Ahead of the 2024 election, Meta appears to be doubling down on its efforts to combat misinformation on its platforms.

Meta has received criticism for their content moderation policies on multiple angles. Meta reportedly faces a probe from the European Union for an alleged lack of content moderation of Russian disinformation campaigns. On the flip side, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is suing the company for “election interference” following its content moderation of his campaign videos.

In addition, the company announced that it would de-emphasize political content in its platform’s recommendation algorithms, and remove its news tab. Users can access news articles through links. News organizations will retain the ability to post and promote their content on Facebook.

Price Action: Meta traded at $473.48, up 0.34% for the day at the time of publication.

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Image by Fernando Astasio Avila on Shutterstock