Brazil criticized Meta’s reliance on community notes, vowing not to expose its citizens to social media fostering “digital carnage or barbarity.”
In a letter sent to Brazil’s government on January 13, the social media platform Meta has verified that its fact-checking feature on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads will be temporarily removed in the United States.
In a Portuguese-translated letter to Brazil’s Attorney General of the Union (AGU), The company has already clarified that it is currently discontinuing its independent Fact-Checking Program solely in the United States. The company will test and refine the community notes [feature] in the United States before expanding it to other countries.
Meta’s correspondence adhered to a 72-hour deadline. Meta was directed by Brazil’s AGU to specify the individuals to whom the third-party fact verification feature would be removed.
It is the result of Meta’s announcement on January 7 that it would eliminate the feature in order to promote greater “freedom of expression” on its platforms, as part of a comprehensive initiative to adhere to corporate human rights policies.
Meta’s fact-checking program will be replaced in the United States with a community notes feature, which is similar to the one on Elon Musk’s X. This change is intended to achieve a more equitable equilibrium between security and freedom of expression, according to Mark Zuckerberg’s company, as explained to Brazil’s AGU.
It recognized that abusive forms of freedom of expression could result in damage and has already implemented automated systems to detect and address high-severity violations on its platforms, including terrorism, child sexual exploitation, fraud, scams, and drug-related issues.
Nevertheless, Brazil’s Attorney-General Jorge Messias expressed his dissatisfaction with Meta’s decision to eliminate its fact-checking feature on January 10.
“Brazil has stringent legislation to safeguard vulnerable populations, children, and the business environment.
We will not permit these networks to transform the environment into digital carnage or barbarism.”
Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has expressed his intention to collaborate with the forthcoming Trump administration in an effort to combat the censorship of US companies by foreign governments.
It is anticipated that Zuckerberg will witness the inauguration of Republican Donald Trump on January 20.
