More election meddling by Big Tech: Meta's Threads to introduce "fact-checking" program ahead of 2024 presidential election

By kevinhughes // 2023-12-19

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Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms will commence a fact-checking program for its Threads app as part of efforts to crack down on "false content" ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The Big Tech firm announced the plan in a Dec. 12 blog post, noting that the program will begin the fact-checking endeavor starting in early 2024. The Menlo Park, California-based Meta already employs third-party fact-checkers to tone down content shared on Facebook and Instagram. "Early next year, our third-party fact-checking partners will be able to review and rate false content on Threads. Currently, when a fact-checker rates a piece of content as false on Facebook or Instagram, we extend that fact-check rating to near-identical content on Threads, but fact-checkers cannot rate Threads content on its own," Meta stated in the update. "We recently gave Instagram and Facebook users more controls, allowing them to decide how much sensitive or, if they're in the U.S., how much-fact-checked content they see on each app. Consistent with that approach, we’re also bringing these controls to Threads to give people … the ability to choose whether they want to increase, lower, or maintain the default level of demotions on fact-checked content in their Feed. If they choose to see less sensitive content on Instagram, that setting will also be applied on Threads." According to the Verge, users will have three levels of controls under the program – "Don't reduce," "Reduce," and "Reduce more." Those controls will affect the ranking of different posts on the platform if they are "found to contain false or partly false information, altered content, or missing context." Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced in a Dec. 13 post that the social media giant is working to extend its fact-checking program on Threads in 2024. "We currently match fact-check ratings from Facebook or Instagram to Threads, but our goal is for fact-checking partners to have the ability to review and rate misinformation on the app. Mosseri wrote. "More to come soon."

Threads accused of censorship for blocking "potentially sensitive content"

Threads at present has "just under" 100 million monthly users, as stated by Zuckerberg. This puts it way below Elon Musk's X platform (formerly Twitter), which it seeks to surpass. The recent platform was released to the public in July, and Meta immediately launched a series of updates, as well as a search function identical to that on X, but which blocks searches for keywords along with "COVID-19" and "COVID" and those regarding vaccines and long COVID. At that time, Meta said the block was momentary and used for prohibiting "potentially sensitive content" from appearing on the platform, nevertheless, the move generated criticism from public health experts who accused the platform of censorship. (Related: Google unveils new “fact-checking tools” meant to censor and keep independent media out of search results.) Mosseri said in October that while Threads isn't "anti-news," Meta also has no plans to "amplify news on the platform." He argued that doing so "would be too risky given the maturity of the platform, the downsides of over-promising, and the stakes." Meta revealed last month what it termed a "comprehensive approach for elections" on its platforms, and said it will block fresh political, electoral and social issue advertisements during the final week of the U.S. election campaign, as it has done in past years. Furthermore, starting next year, Meta will call for advertisers to reveal when they employ artificial intelligence or other digital techniques to "create or alter a political or social issue ad in certain cases." The corporation said it has curtailed more than 200 "malicious influence campaigns" engaged in what it calls "coordinated inauthentic behavior" and has assigned more than 700 hate groups around the globe as part of its attempt to fight the dissemination of election misinformation and interference. Follow Censorship.news for more news about the fact-checking programs from Big Tech. Watch the video below about investigative reporter Michael Shellenberger raising concerns that the Threads app is already censoring accounts of users. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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Threads accused of censorship for blocking "potentially sensitive content"

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