Fact-checking firm staffed by CNN alums takes Meta axing seriously: 'surprised and disappointed'

The prominent fact-checking organization used by Facebook to moderate political content responded to news that it would update its review to avoid bias with an article expressing its disappointment and disagreement with the move.

“Leading Stories were shocked and disappointed when they began to learn through media reports and press coverage about the end of the Meta-Third Party-Association-Reviewing Partnership that Leadership Stories has been part of it from 2019,” Lead Stories editor Maarten Schenk. wrote on Tuesday in response to an announcement from Meta that it would significantly change its fact-checking process to “restore free speech.”

Lead Stories, a Facebook analytics tool that employs several former CNN students including Alan Duke and Ed Payne, has become one of the most popular analytics tools used by Facebook in recent years.

Fox News Digital first report on Tuesday that Meta is completing its fact-checking program and removing restrictions on speech to “restore free expression” on Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting that its current methods of measuring content “it's too far.”

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“After Trump was first elected in 2016, the media wrote non-stop about how misinformation has been a threat to democracy,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. video on Tuesday. “We tried in good faith to solve these problems without becoming real critics. But the critics are just too politically biased and have damaged more trust than they created, especially in the US.”

“Political bias?” an article from Lead Stories asks before explaining that it is “disappointing to hear Mark Zuckerberg accuse Meta's US third-party organizations to review the program's “extremely politically biased.”

“Especially since one of the requirements set by Meta for being part of the partnership included being a certified signatory to the IFCN Code of Conduct, which clearly requires” commitment of non-participation and impartiality,'” the article says. in the many years we have been part of the partnership, neither we nor IFCN have ever received complaints from Meta about political bias, so we were surprised a lot here's the statement.”

Meta said in its announcement that it will be moving to a balancing system that is more in line with Social Data in X, which Lead Stories seemed to oppose.

However, in our experience and that of others, Social Data on X is often slow to appear, sometimes inaccurate and difficult to appear in controversial ads due to the inability to reach consensus. (sic) or agreement among users,” Lead Stories wrote. . “In the end, the truth does not care about agreement or consensus: the structure of the World remains the same even if social media users disagree about it. “

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Lead Stories added that Public Information “is not transparent about its contributors: readers are left to guess about their bias, funding, credibility, sources or expertise and there is no way of appeal or corrections” while ” Real auditors, on the other hand, are required by IFCN to be transparent about who they are, who they fund and what methods and sources they use. reach their conclusions.”

Schenk added, “Fact-checking is including verified and sourced facts so people can make up their own minds about what to believe. It's an important part of free speech.” .”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Duke said Lead Stories plans to continue.

“Lead Stories will continue, even if we have to limit our production without the support from Meta,” said Duke. “We are global, and most of our business now is outside the USA. We broadcast in eight languages ​​other than English, which will be affected.”

Some opponents took to social media to publish Lead Stories in their article bemoaning the change in Meta after years of pushing Facebook's general media critics for important news stories. including pressure of the bomb report on Hunter Biden's laptop.

“Of all the fact-checking companies, Lead Stories is the worst,” said British-American author Ian Haworth. written in X. “We can't be happier that they will soon be around the drain.”

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The chief executive of Politifact, a fact-checking firm also used by Facebook, he issued a stern rebuke of Zuckerberg after Tuesday's announcement.

“If the angry Meta created a hacking tool, it should look in the mirror,” Aaron Sharockman said in a statement to X after Zuckerberg's announcement.

Sharockman fumed, “The decision to remove independent journalists from Facebook's content moderation program in the United States has nothing to do with free speech or preventing people from making decisions. Mark Zuckerberg's decision would not it becomes subtle.”

He rejected Zuckerberg's accusation of political bias, saying that the Meta platform, not the critics, are the real organizations. censored posts.

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“Let me be clear: the decision to remove or strike a post or account was made by Meta and Facebook, not the checkers. They created the rules,” said Sharockman.

At the end of his Lead Stories post, Schenk wrote, “While we are obviously disappointed by this news, Lead Stories would like to thank the many people at Meta who we have worked with over the years and will continue to our fact-checking job. To clarify the slogan on our front page: 'Just because it's popular without a fact-checking label doesn't make it true.'

Fox News Digital's Gabriel Hays and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.