As Meta shifts away from professional fact-checkers, Indian firms await clarity

Indian fact-checking organisations are on tenterhooks as they await the consequences of Meta’s decision to abandon its partnerships with professional fact-checking organisations in favour of a community-led model, starting with the U.S. Amitabh Kumar, founder of Social and Media Matters, which has worked with large social media platforms, said that he was trying to keep an open mind on Meta’s move. But Mr. Trump’s election and the divisive rhetoric around fact-checking in the U.S., which drew criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic as posts and accounts were being taken down or flagged at a time when there wasn’t yet total consensus among scientists on the disease’s causes and origins or the risks around its vaccines, have led to resentment towards professional fact-checking by social media platforms. Two senior fact-checking executives contacted by The Hindu declined to comment on the Meta announcement’s implications for India, citing uncertainty on immediate consequences.