The International Fact-Checking Network has published an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of the technology company Meta, which includes social networks Facebook, Instagram and Threads, in connection with Zuckerberg’s recent statement that he will abolish the fact-checking program in the United States. In the letter, the Network recalls that the goal of the program, in which independent and rigorously vetted organizations participate, is to reduce the visibility of false content without censoring it. According to journalists, this approach has contributed to users having more reliable information, which is in line with the fundamental values of freedom of speech. The reaction added that the abolition of the program could increase the spread of misinformation, especially at politically sensitive moments. “Your comments suggest that fact-checkers were responsible for censorship, even though Meta never gave them the authority to remove content or profiles. People online have often blamed and harassed fact-checkers for Meta’s actions. Your recent comments will undoubtedly fuel such perceptions. But the reality is that Meta employees were deciding whether content that fact-checkers had flagged as false should be reduced reach or labeled,” the letter states. The Metamorphosis Foundation, of which the Meta.mk News Agency is a part, is a signatory to the letter and is part of the International Fact-Checking Network. The open letter is reproduced in its entirety:Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,Nine years ago, we wrote to you about the real-world harms caused by false information on Facebook. In response, Meta created a fact-checking program that helped protect millions of users from hoaxes and conspiracy theories. This week, you announced you’re ending that program in the United States because of concerns about “too much censorship” — a decision that threatens to undo nearly a decade of progress in promoting accurate information online.The program that launched in 2016 was a strong step forward in encouraging factual accuracy online. It helped people have a positive experience on Facebook, Instagram and Threads by reducing the spread of false and misleading information in their feeds. We believe — and data shows — most people on social media are looking for reliable information to make decisions about their lives and to have good interactions with friends and family. Informing users about false information in order to slow its spread, without censoring, was the goal. Fact-checkers strongly support freedom of expression, and we’ve said that repeatedly and formally in last year’s Sarajevo statement. The freedom to say why something is not true is also free speech.But you say the program has become “a tool to censor,” and that “fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.” This is false, and we want to set the record straight, both for toda
An open letter to Mark Zuckerberg from the world’s fact-checkers
Lasa un comentariu
