The fact-checker network will lose its main source of revenue and may even shut down after Facebook parent company Meta announced it would terminate its contract and move to a system closer to X Community Notes.
"We don't have much time left. At this rate, we're done in a few months," Check Your Facts managing editor Jesse Stiller told Fox News Digital.
"We were blindsided by this. It was completely unexpected and beyond our scope. It wasn't until Mark dropped the video overnight that we realized this decision was being considered. We had no idea what the future of the site would look like, ” he added.
On January 7, 2025, Meta revealed that it would end its fact-checking program and eliminate some content moderation policies to "restore free speech on platforms like Facebook and Instagram."
CEO of left-leaning fact-checking agency says responsibility for reviewing Hunter Biden laptop lies with government, not fact-checking agencies
Meta's decision to end its third-party fact-checking program will have a significant financial impact on its business, fact-checkers told Fox News Digital. (Nicolas Toukat/AFP via Getty Images)
Ahead of the announcement, Meta has repeatedly stressed its commitment to supporting the long-standing independent fact-checking industry to tackle "misinformation" online.
In an April 2022 blog post, Meta claimed that it had built "the largest global fact-checking network of any platform" and had contributed more than $100 million to fact-checking projects since 2016.
Meta did not respond when asked how much money it provided to third-party fact-checkers before announcing the end of the program in early January 2025.
Meta began in early 2020 by prioritizing providing "additional support and resources" to fact-checkers to combat health "misinformation," according to the company's website.
As part of this initiative, Meta has launched a $1 million emergency grant program in partnership with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to address information about the COVID-19 pandemic.
IFCN created the CoronaVirusFacts Alliance, in which nearly 100 fact-checking organizations from more than 70 countries conducted more than 11,000 fact-checks on COVID-19 in 40 languages. Seven fact-checking organization projects specifically target vaccine "misinformation."
Experts say META's decision to scrap fact-checking system and adopt Musk-like policies is a 'victory' for free speech
Meta's announcement to restore "free speech" comes after years of scrutiny of the company's fact-checking and content moderation practices. (Nicholas Tuukat/AFP/Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In August, Zuckerberg acknowledged that the Biden White House had pressured Meta to review some health information during the pandemic.
Zuckerberg told podcast host Joe Rogan in January that members of the Biden administration would "scream" and "cuss" at his staff, asking them to take down information, especially during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine plan .
Meta subsequently awarded IFCN a $1 million “Climate Misinformation Grant.” The grant provides funding, in part, to organizations working to combat “climate misinformation” and supports partnerships between fact-checkers and “climate experts.”
The company is also funding fact-checkers to "increase their ability to promote credible information" ahead of 2022 elections in several countries, including the United States, Australia, France and India.
In the United States, Meta partners with the following third-party fact-checkers: AFP – Hub, Check Your Fact, Factcheck.org, Lead Stories, PolitiFact, Science Feedback, Reuters Fact Check, TelevisaUnivision, The Dispatch, and USA Today.
All 10 partners are expected to lose funding. It's unclear when or if Meta's changes will affect overseas fact-checking organizations.
The internet is awash with New York Times headlines about fact-checkers getting their meta-critique “wrong”: “Beyond parody”
Meta and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has detailed the pressure he faces from governments, particularly the Biden administration, to censor content on their behalf. (Joe Rogan Experience)
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Meta chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan claimed that these fact-checkers failed to remain neutral.
"We went to an independent, third-party fact-checker," Kaplan said. "It's clear there's so much political bias in what they choose to fact-check because basically they can fact-check anything they see on the platform."
Since abandoning third-party fact-checking, several fact-checking groups with financial ties to the tech group have issued statements criticizing Zuckerberg and Mehta's claims of political bias.
Previously, these groups typically were paid for each fact check published using Meta's platform and tools.
For example, more than 5% of its 2024 revenue will come from the partnership, according to PolitiFact's financial disclosures.
PolitiFact told Fox News Digital that the organization was one of the original participants in Meta's third-party fact-checking program and would be affected by the company's decision to end the program.
META unveils sweeping changes to restore free speech on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that his company will adopt a new fact-checking system similar to Elon Musk's community annotations. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
They also pointed to Fox News Digital comments from Neil Brown, president of the Poynter Institute, the parent company of PolitiFact, who called Meta's decision a "disappointing cop-out" that "perpetuates criticism of its own plans." misunderstanding".
"Facts are not censorship. Fact-checkers never censor anything. Meta always holds the power. It's time to stop invoking inflammatory and false language when describing the role of journalists and fact-checkers," Brown said.
Lead Stories, a Facebook fact-checking agency that employs several former CNN alumni, told the New York Times that it is now doing much of its work for TikTok parent company ByteDance. Meta was previously a major client of fact-checkers.
The company was shocked by Zuckerberg's announcement, as Lead Stories signed a new one-year contract with Meta just three weeks ago. Lead Stories co-founder Alan Duke said the company would see a drop in revenue after severing ties with Meta, which would lead to "headcount reductions".
"Removing fact-checkers from social platforms is like dismantling the fire department," he told CNN in early January.
META unveils sweeping changes to restore free speech on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM
The Meta platform is displayed on a smartphone screen on August 9, 2024, with the Meta logo appearing against the background of Chania, Greece. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
"Fact-based journalism is what USA TODAY does best," Kristen Roberts, chief content officer at Gannet Media (parent company of USA TODAY), said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"We are the nation's trusted news source because we provide unbiased and important content for everyone. Truth and facts serve everyone - not the right or the left - and that's what we will continue to provide," she continued .
The company did not provide information about its financial relationship with Meta.
Click here to get the Fox News app
TelevisaUnivision, Lead Stories, Factcheck.org, AFP Center, The Dispatch and Science Feedback did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Reuters declined to comment.