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Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram will see a return to “free expression” as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company is going back to its “roots.”

Lifting speech restrictions and ending its fact-checking program are part of the endeavor Zuckerberg revealed in a video posted on Tuesday as the company’s chief global affairs officer discussed the moves with Fox News.

“We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg said. “More specifically, we’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with Community Notes similar to X, starting in the U.S.”

Company executives admitted that the third-party fact-checking program that was put in place at Meta after the 2016 election has “gone too far” in its purported mission to “manage content” and misinformation on the platforms.

The significant change comes in light of Zuckerberg’s recent meeting with President-elect Donald Trump and announcements of changes on the Meta board, including the addition of Trump ally, UFC chief Dana White.

Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” welcomed Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, on Monday where he expressed the changes are a “great opportunity for us to reset the balance in favor of free expression.”

He claimed the fact-checking system was “well-intentioned at the outset” but had shown “too much political bias” in flagging content. He specifically noted the “Community Notes” model being used currently by Elon Musk-owned X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Instead of going to some so-called expert, it instead relies on the community and the people on the platform to provide their own commentary to something that they’ve read,” Kaplan explained in another interview with Fox News Digital.

“We think that’s a much better approach rather than relying on so-called experts who bring their own biases into the program,” he said.

Rules they feel are “too restrictive and not allowing enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender” will also be seeing a change, according to the executive.

“We want to make sure that discourse can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship,” Kaplan said. “We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free expression. And we’re not just changing the rules, we are actually changing how we enforce the rules.”

The current system makes “too many mistakes,” removing content “that doesn’t even violate our standards,” Kaplan elaborated while noting that some posts on topics such as terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation will still be moderated.

Kaplan cited the incoming Trump administration “that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression,” claiming, “It gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.”

“We do think it is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and to work on free expression at home,” he said.

“Those are issues of great importance to Meta and our sector,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals.”

Frieda Powers
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