Biden criticizes Meta's reversal on fact-checking practices
US President Joe Biden has criticized Meta's choice to ease its censorship policies, calling it effectively un-American. Read the full article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The outgoing US president labeled Meta's decision to eliminate its controversial third-party fact-checking program as “really shameful” and “contrary to American justice.”
US President Joe Biden criticized Meta for its recent policy shift, asserting that it was “completely contrary to what America is about.” He made these comments during a rare Q&A session with reporters at the White House on Friday.
Biden sharply condemned Mark Zuckerberg’s company, which operates Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. He remarked, “The whole idea of walking away from fact-checking as well as not reporting anything having to do with discrimination regarding…I find it to be contrary to American justice. Telling the truth matters.” He further stressed that this decision seemed “completely contrary to what America is about.”
The president emphasized the importance of truth in media, stating, “We want to tell the truth. The idea that a billionaire can buy something and say that they won’t fact-check, and then you have millions of people reading it – I think it’s really shameful.”
Earlier this week, Meta announced this significant policy change, with Zuckerberg acknowledging that the fact-checking service had become “too politically biased” and “has destroyed more trust than they’ve created.”
Zuckerberg explained, “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it’s gone too far.”
In place of the fact-checking program, the company plans to implement a model similar to that of Elon Musk’s platform X, which will allow users to flag potentially misleading posts and provide “community notes” for additional context.
Additionally, Meta is moving away from its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and is revising its hiring processes, which previously considered applicants’ gender and racial backgrounds. Reports indicate that these changes are already being rolled out across the company's offices, including directives to remove tampons from male restrooms and to eliminate transgender and non-binary themes from the company's messaging platforms.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
US President Joe Biden criticized Meta for its recent policy shift, asserting that it was “completely contrary to what America is about.” He made these comments during a rare Q&A session with reporters at the White House on Friday.
Biden sharply condemned Mark Zuckerberg’s company, which operates Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. He remarked, “The whole idea of walking away from fact-checking as well as not reporting anything having to do with discrimination regarding…I find it to be contrary to American justice. Telling the truth matters.” He further stressed that this decision seemed “completely contrary to what America is about.”
The president emphasized the importance of truth in media, stating, “We want to tell the truth. The idea that a billionaire can buy something and say that they won’t fact-check, and then you have millions of people reading it – I think it’s really shameful.”
Earlier this week, Meta announced this significant policy change, with Zuckerberg acknowledging that the fact-checking service had become “too politically biased” and “has destroyed more trust than they’ve created.”
Zuckerberg explained, “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it’s gone too far.”
In place of the fact-checking program, the company plans to implement a model similar to that of Elon Musk’s platform X, which will allow users to flag potentially misleading posts and provide “community notes” for additional context.
Additionally, Meta is moving away from its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and is revising its hiring processes, which previously considered applicants’ gender and racial backgrounds. Reports indicate that these changes are already being rolled out across the company's offices, including directives to remove tampons from male restrooms and to eliminate transgender and non-binary themes from the company's messaging platforms.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
