Meta Ends Facebook Fact-Checking Program, Replaces It With Community Notes Across U.S. Platforms

In a sweeping shift to its content moderation strategy, Meta will officially shut down its third-party fact-checking program in the United States on April 7, 2025, replacing it with a user-driven “Community Notes” system across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. The move ends an eight-year run of partnerships between Meta and independent U.S. fact-checking organizations, originally launched in 2016 in response to mounting concerns over election misinformation.

What’s Ending

As of Monday, no new fact-checks will be conducted and no fact-checking contractors will remain on staff, according to Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan. The decision dismantles a major pillar of Meta’s previous approach to moderating false content—one that frequently involved labeling misleading posts, downranking them in the feed, and in some cases, applying penalties to repeat offenders.

Meta’s prior fact-checking network included partnerships with organizations like PolitiFact, USA Today, Lead Stories, and others certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).

What’s Replacing It: Community Notes

In place of expert fact-checking, Meta is rolling out Community Notes, a feature modeled closely on a system introduced by X (formerly Twitter). Community Notes allows users themselves to collaboratively add context to potentially misleading or controversial posts. Unlike fact-check labels, these notes don’t penalize the original content and rely on consensus from a cross-section of contributors to be published.

Meta says the system is designed to reduce perceived bias and encourage “more democratic” moderation by giving users from diverse backgrounds a say in what context is needed.

“We believe empowering users to provide broader context will promote transparency and reduce moderation errors,” a company spokesperson said.

Why Meta Is Doing This

The shift reflects Meta’s broader goal of simplifying content moderation and restoring free expression, particularly in light of the criticism it received during past election cycles. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has argued that the prior system was too complex and vulnerable to political bias—especially in the U.S., where fact-checkers were often accused of disproportionately flagging conservative speech.

This move is part of a larger internal strategy to roll back what Meta now sees as overreaching enforcement policies, and to rescind previous strikes on users related to misinformation violations.

Meta also intends to loosen restrictions around politically sensitive topics such as immigration, climate science, and gender identity, which had previously triggered moderation under its older guidelines.

What This Means Going Forward

• Fact-checks will no longer appear on U.S.-based Facebook, Instagram, or Threads posts.
• Community Notes will gradually roll out starting April 7, with broader user participation expected in the coming months.
• Old penalties and misinformation “strikes” will be removed from users’ accounts.
• The policy is currently limited to the U.S., but Meta has hinted at a possible global expansion depending on results.

Reactions and Concerns

Critics warn the end of expert-led fact-checking could make Meta platforms more vulnerable to coordinated disinformation campaigns, especially ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. Misinformation researchers argue that crowd-sourced notes can be manipulated or gamed, especially in politically polarized environments.

On the other hand, free speech advocates have applauded the move as a long-overdue correction to what they see as subjective and inconsistent moderation practices.

Meta’s transition from professional fact-checkers to a user-powered model marks one of the most dramatic changes in its history of platform governance. Whether Community Notes will enhance transparency or open the floodgates for misinformation remains to be seen—but one thing is clear: the responsibility for defining truth on social media is shifting from experts to the crowd.