(Credit: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
Meta is now accepting sign-ups for its Community Notes program.
The Community Notes model is set to replace third-party fact-checking on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. It will allow voluntary contributors to decide if a post is misleading and add more context in the form of background information, a tip, or an insight users might find helpful.
All Community Notes on Meta’s apps will be written and rated by Community Notes contributors, Meta says. A note must include a link, adhere to Meta’s Community Standards, and have no more than 500 characters. After submitting a note, it will appear under a post only if “enough contributors” agree that it is going to be helpful, Meta says.
The program will launch in the US first “over the next couple of months.” Those interested in contributing can now join waitlists on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. To be eligible, a user needs to be based in the US, be 18+, have an account older than six months “in good standing,” and have a verified phone number or enroll in two-factor authentication.
Meta reportedly started testing its Community Notes internally for Threads last month. The company’s decision to adopt the program was inspired by its success on X (formerly Twitter).
“We’ve seen this approach work on X – where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context, and people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see,” Meta’s global affair chief Joel Kaplan wrote last month.
Kaplan argued that official fact-checker had "their own biases and perspectives, [which] showed up in the choices some made about what to fact check and how."
But Meta's shift to the Community Notes model comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg has embraced the new Trump administration. Like other tech companies and CEOs, Meta donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural and Zuckerberg attended the inauguration. He's criticized Biden administration content-moderation efforts and pledged to work "with President Trump to push back against foreign governments going after American companies to censor more."