Meta's content moderation shutdown is dangerous

(CLO) Fact-checkers from Brazil, Nigeria, Ukraine, and the Philippines shared their concerns when Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) stopped supporting the content moderation program.

Many organizations lose financial resources to verify information

Meta’s decision to stop moderating content and cut funding for its work has left many organizations around the world in a difficult position, many of whom rely heavily on Meta for funding. While no organization has announced that it will shut down, the loss of such a large source of funding will undoubtedly create challenges and force them to seek alternative funding sources.

Despite confidentiality agreements with Meta, several organizations have revealed that Meta funding accounts for only 20-30% of their budgets, lower than the 50% that many predicted. This suggests that organizations have made efforts to diversify their revenue streams, reducing their dependence on a single source of funding.

If Meta stops supporting its fact-checking program, some news organizations will have to cut staff. (Illustration photo)

Kemi Busari, editor of Dubawa, a Nigerian fact-checking organization that has partnered with Meta since 2019, said that if Meta stopped supporting its fact-checking program in Nigeria, Dubawa would be forced to cut staff, resulting in a significant reduction in its ability to verify misinformation.

But if they had a year to prepare, Busari thinks they would have been able to find other revenue streams: “We’re looking at this as an opportunity to innovate and find more sustainable operating models. We understand that fact-checking is a community activity, not just a business. With this mindset, we’ll find new ways to continue our work.”

Tai Nalon is the CEO of Aos Fatos, a fact-checking organization in Brazil that has partnered with Meta since 2018. In addition to grants, they have diversified their funding sources through licensing journalistic content, memberships, technology sales, and intelligence services. However, Nalon said Meta’s support is essential to their journalistic work.

“Our partnership with Meta has been instrumental in establishing Aos Fatos as a leading journalism organization in Brazil and across the continent,” she said. “Meta has long shared tools to track trends that support our investigative journalism, such as the public Crowdtangle API. Tracking the attacks in Brasília on January 8, 2023, would not have been possible without a robust strategy to combat misinformation through fact-checking and investigation.”

Nátalia Leal, CEO of Brazilian fact-checking organization Agência Lupa, said their partnership with Meta has allowed them to grow as a company and expand their target audience by reaching users they previously couldn’t reach. Their revenue streams range from selling content to other news outlets to offering workshops and training.

“We need more people to support our work, ” Leal said. “It’s not just about money. It’s about awareness of the importance of journalism and fact-checking.”

Global information quality threats

The most significant impact from Meta's decision will be felt across the information ecosystem, particularly in many countries in the Global South, fact checkers say.

Facebook and Instagram are still the primary sources of news in many of those countries, so removing fact checks from news feeds could increase the amount of misinformation users see.

One of those countries is the Philippines, where 61% of users get their news from Facebook, according to the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2024.

Lax regulations could turn social media into fertile ground for fake news and misinformation. (Illustration photo)

“Facebook is still king here,” said Celine Samson, head of online verification at VERA Files, a Philippine fact-checking organization that has partnered with Meta since 2018.

“Despite the rise of other platforms, Facebook continues to be the most used social media platform. It is where indigenous Filipinos and our large Filipino diaspora get their news. If the program is removed, we are concerned about the quality of information they will receive,” Samson said.

Yevhen Fedchenko, co-founder and chief editor of StopFake.org - Ukraine's leading fact-checking organization, shared that Meta was the first tech company to proactively reach out to find ways to support them in the fight against disinformation in the war.

For Nigeria’s 2023 general election, Busari’s fact-checking organization Dubawa studied the different types of misinformation circulating on social media platforms by pulling data from published fact-checking reports from three African fact-checking agencies. They found that Facebook was the platform where misinformation was most prevalent.

Nalon of Brazil’s Aos Fatos points out that the loosening of hate speech regulations has facilitated the spread of misinformation. She says fact-checking helps identify conspiracy theories peddled by hate groups.

Without fact-checking programs, it will be difficult to distinguish high-quality, professionally verified information from other types of content on social media. Trust will be undermined.

“Lax regulations can turn social media into fertile ground for fake news and misinformation,” Nalon said.

Phan Anh (according to Meta, Reuters, Dubawa)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/giua-dai-dich-thong-tin-viec-dung-kiem-duyet-noi-dung-cua-meta-rat-nguy-hiem-post330915.html