Just hours after Meta announced the elimination of its US-based fact-checkers, a firestorm raged out of control in the hills above Los Angeles. Fact-checking partners, still working for Meta, scrambled to combat the rapid spread of misinformation about the disaster.
Rumor and speculation swirled online, with conspiracy theories about the disaster gaining traction. “Cutting fact-checkers from social platforms is like disbanding your fire department,” said Alan Duke, a former CNN journalist who co-founded the fact-checking outlet Lead Stories.
The false claims were similar to those surrounding a 2023 hurricane and the 2023 Maui wildfires, where conspiracy theorists claimed the government had caused the blazes. “The false claims we are seeing on the wildfires are similar to what happened with the recent hurricane that slammed the southeast a few months ago. It creates distrust of emergency agencies that are actively responding to the disaster, making it more difficult for them during the crisis,” Duke said.
The elimination of fact-checkers from Meta’s program will force some of the company’s fact-checking partners to lay off staff or shut down once the company’s financial support dries up. The decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for the future of fact-checking on social media.
In the meantime, misinformation continues to spread, fueled by high-profile accounts on platforms like X, where users can append “Community Notes” to debunk or provide further context to posts. However, these notes are not bound by ethical guidelines, and the platform’s community-driven approach has been criticized for being insufficient in addressing complex conspiracy theories and political claims.
