During the recent fires in Los Angeles, the spread of fake news paralleled the devastation.
Social media circulated wild conspiracy theories about the fires, sharing misleading videos and wrongly accusing individuals of looting.
This highlighted the ongoing challenge of combating and rectifying potentially explosive misinformation in the era of social media.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, found himself at the center of this debate.
Following the Capitol riots on January 6th, 2021, fueled by false election claims, Zuckerberg faced Congress and touted Meta's "industry-leading fact-checking program."
Initially relying on 80 third-party fact-checkers to combat misinformation on Facebook and Instagram, the effectiveness of this system has since come into question.
Critics, like Alexios Mantzarlis of Cornell Tech, pointed out Zuckerberg's questionable motives and the decision to discontinue fact-checkers.
Despite the controversy, some experts, including Mantzarlis, acknowledge that community-driven solutions, like the one adopted by Meta, could play a role in fighting misinformation.
While some may view relying on community notes inspired by a platform associated with Elon Musk as contentious, these systems have roots predating his involvement.
Modeled after Wikipedia's volunteer-based editing approach, community notes allow users to correct misinformation collectively.
Advocates like Keith Coleman argue that Meta's transition to the newer fact-checking program centered around community notes is more agile and robust.
By utilizing algorithms to ensure a broad spectrum of user approval, community notes aim to maintain trust across different ideological spectrums.
However, concerns exist regarding the algorithm's effectiveness, as research shows many proposed notes go unused.
Even with the removal of fact-checkers, Meta will continue to enforce its content policies through thousands of moderators who weed out rule-breaking content daily.
Nonetheless, the company's decision to relax rules on politically charged topics, like gender and immigration, has raised significant apprehensions among experts.
While Meta's detailed plans for combating misinformation remain unclear, some experts suggest that community-driven tools, like community notes, can complement but not replace the need for traditional fact-checkers.