Meta to start testing crowd-sourced fact-checking, based on X example, next week

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc. said Thursday it will begin testing its crowd-sourced fact-checking program, Community Notes, on March 18. Fact-checkers provide a valuable service by adding important context to the viral claims that mislead and misinform millions of users on Meta,” said Dan Evon, lead writer for RumorGuard, the News Literacy Project’s digital tool that curates fact checks and teaches people to spot viral misinformation. “We will start by gradually and randomly admitting people off of the waitlist, and will take time to test the writing and rating system before any notes are published publicly,” Meta said. Meta said it won’t decide what gets rated or written and the notes “won’t be published unless contributors with a range of viewpoints broadly agree on them.” And unlike with fact checks, where posts that were determined to be misinformation had their distribution reduced, posts with Community Notes won't be penalised, Meta said.