The 180-degree shift is a response to Donald Trump's impending second term as president and to competing approaches like X Community Notes. Meta decided not to invest any more money into its project. Now, it wants Facebook and Instagram users to decide for themselves what content is misinformation and what isn't.

In his statement announcing that he was scrapping the program, Zuckerberg said fact-checkers had succumbed to political bias and destroyed more trust than they built in the United States. However, for Laura Zommer, the former director of Chequeado (one of the most important Spanish-language verification organizations) and LatamChequea and current head of Factchequeado (verification media for the U.S. Latino community), Zuckerberg’s statement is not surprising. Unexpected, and there is no scientific evidence for his claim. "Instead of censoring, fact-checkers add context," Zomer said. "We never advocate for removal of content. We want citizens to be better informed to make their own decisions."

Zommer expressed doubts about the benefits that disbanding the program might bring to Meta, stressing that it was contradictory for the company to end its fact-checking program, especially since it highlighted its past positive results. Zomer also agreed with current IFCN Director Angie Drobnic Holan, who wrote in a LinkedIn post: “Unfortunately, this decision comes after the new administration and its support The fact-checkers have not been investigated for bias — a line of attack from people who believe they should be able to exaggerate and lie without rebuttal or contradiction. "

With Trump threatening mass deportations of immigrants just days before his inauguration, the Hispanic community may face a new wave of disinformation. "The evidence leads us to think this is going to be bad. We'll see before it's implemented, but we can say that during the Trump campaign, one of the major disinformation narratives was aimed at immigrants, such as those who said immigrants would commit fraud rhetoric. This is false. Past data leads us to believe that this decision may have a negative impact on the Latino community in the United States."

Anti-immigration rhetoric is not the only factor harming ecosystems. In an age where deepfake video and audio scams are spreading, having actionable information will be a priority.

Spanish-language fact-checking media at risk

Latin America’s news ecosystem is at risk due to its economic fragility. “Facebook’s fact-checking program payments still keep fact-checking organizations and news organizations with fact-checking sections afloat. So I think if these organizations don’t diversify soon, it’s very likely that many of them will disappear” , said Pablo Medina, disinformation research editor at the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP).

While the decision currently only applies to the United States, the project's disappearance has alarmed the Spanish media ecosystem. "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's attack on what he called 'secret courts' driving censorship of the platform in Latin America — a false claim — suggests Brazil is a focus for the company," said Tai Nalon, CEO of Meta Nalon. Aos Fatos, one of the southern hemisphere's most important fact-checking media outlets.

"This is entirely consistent with the rhetoric of Donald Trump, who has often criticized journalism and fact-checking," Naron said. "The arguments used by Zuckerberg have been widely exploited by the far right around the world to undo effective initiatives against disinformation." legality." Having never been dissatisfied with the work of fact-checkers before, it seems to me that this move is designed to gain some political advantage. We know Meta is facing an antitrust case in the United States, and close ties to the government could be an advantage for the company. "

At the same time, as Laura Zomer notes, past evidence gives the news ecosystem reason to worry.

Wired Spanish contacted Meta for this story. The company responded via a media representative with a statement (in Spanish) about the decision, saying that this does not apply to WhatsApp and only applies to U.S. authenticators.

This story originally appeared on WIRED in Spanish and was translated from Spanish.