Social media giant says it will end fact-checking—and the impact to physicians may be dire
Key Takeaways
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, recently announced it will be replacing its fact-checking program with a community-driven system similar to the "Community Notes" feature used by Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).[]
This change raises pressing concerns about the future of online misinformation—something particularly impactful for physicians and healthcare professionals who already face an uphill battle against medical misinformation online.
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What's changing
Since its introduction in 2016, Meta's fact-checking program has aimed to reduce the spread of misinformation across its platforms. Collaborating with nearly 100 organizations globally, the program expanded to address false claims in over 60 languages. However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that this system would be discontinued, citing its frequent errors and a renewed focus on "prioritizing speech."
Related: Is this today's biggest public health threat?@skynews Meta is scrapping its third party fact-checking service in the US after nine years and replacing it with a "community notes" system, similar to the one used by X. #SkyNews #markzuckerberg ♬ original sound - Sky News
Instead, Meta will now rely on its user base to identify potentially misleading content. Zuckerberg said he believes this crowdsourced approach could be a more effective and unbiased way to add context to posts. But for physicians, the shift could create additional challenges.[]
For physicians, the stakes are high
The healthcare sector is no stranger to the dangers of misinformation. From vaccine hesitancy to unproven treatments gaining traction online, false claims can have real-world consequences for public health. Without a robust fact-checking system, the burden of combating these claims may fall even more heavily on healthcare professionals.
Related: The risk in allowing medical misinformation to spread onlineFor example, social media platforms have played a pivotal role in the dissemination of COVID-19 misinformation. While fact-checking programs weren’t perfect, they provided some guardrails against the spread of blatantly false content. The new community-driven model might lack the expertise needed to properly vet medical claims, leading to a proliferation of pseudoscience and health myths.
Will user moderation work?
Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief global affairs officer, expressed optimism about the new approach, stating that empowering users to add context to posts could improve the quality of content moderation. However, this assumes that a general audience is equipped to discern accurate medical information—a risky proposition when dealing with complex healthcare topics.[]
Physicians may find themselves in a precarious position, as they navigate platforms that could amplify misinformation. The shift may require healthcare professionals to take a more active role in addressing false claims on social media, further straining their already demanding workloads.
What's next?
Meta has pledged to continue moderating content related to drugs, terrorism, child exploitation, and fraud—but did not provide any insight into how it will accurately identify content of these types.[] This selective moderation also leaves a significant gap when it comes to health misinformation.
With the rollout of Community Notes expected to take months, the healthcare community will need to monitor how this system evolves and advocate for solutions that protect public health. Whether through collaboration with professional organizations, patient education, or direct engagement on social media, physicians can play a vital role in promoting accurate information.
As Meta redefines its approach to moderation, the stakes for healthcare providers—and the patients they serve—have never been higher.