This photo illustration, created on January 7, 2025, shows Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and the Meta logo.
Drew Angerer | Af | Getty Images
Meta Employees took to an internal forum on Tuesday to criticize the company's decision end third party fact checking of its services two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
Employees expressed their concerns after Joel Kaplan Meta's new director of global affairs and former White House deputy chief of staff under former President George W. Bush announced content policy changes to the internal communications tool Workplace.
“We are optimistic that these changes will help us return to our fundamental commitment to free speech,” Kaplan wrote in the post, which was verified by CNBC.
The announcement of the content policy comes after a series of decisions that appear aimed at appeasing the new administration. On Monday, the finish line added new members to its management boardincluding UFC CEO Dana White, a longtime friend of Trump, and the company confirmed in December that it had donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration.
Among the latest changes, Kaplan announced that Meta will abandon its fact-checking program and move to a user-generated system like Community Notes X. Kaplan, who took up his new position last week, also said that Meta will lift restrictions on certain topics and focus their enforcement on illegal and serious violations, while providing users with a “more personalized approach to political content.”
One employee wrote that he was “very concerned” about the decision, saying it seemed like Meta was “sending a bigger, stronger message to people that facts no longer matter, and linking it to a victory for free speech.”
Another employee commented that “releasing the burden of at least trying to create a safe and appropriate platform is a really sad direction.” Other comments expressed concern about the impact the policy change could have on discourse on topics such as immigration, gender identity and gender, which one employee said could result in an “influx of racist and transphobic content.”
Another employee said he feared “we are entering really dangerous territory, paving the way for the further spread of misinformation.”
The changes were not met with widespread criticism, with some Meta employees congratulating the company on its decision to stop third-party fact-checking. One wrote that Community Notes X “proved to be a much better representation of ground truth.”
Another employee commented that the company should “provide a breakdown of the worst results from the first years,” which necessitated the creation of an external program to fact-check and see whether the new policies would prevent the same type of effects from occurring again.
As part of mass layoffs in the company in 2023, Meta too he abandoned his internal fact-checking project– CNBC reported. This project would allow third-party fact-checkers such as the Associated Press and Reuters, in addition to credible experts, to comment on flagged articles to verify their content.
Although Meta announced the end of its fact-checking program on Tuesday, the company was already phasing it out. in September AP spokesman told CNBC that the news organization's “fact-checking agreement with Meta expired in January” 2024.
Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, gestures while speaking during a rally for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York, U.S., October 27, 2024.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Following Monday's announcement of White joining the board, employees posted critical comments, questions and jokes on Workplace, according to posts reviewed by CNBC. Technology News 404 Media reported previously in workplace posts involving White.
White, who has led the UFC since 2001, has been embroiled in controversy in 2023 after a video published by TMZ showing him hitting his wife during a New Year's Eve party in Mexico. White issued A public apologyand his wife Anne White released a statement to TMZ calling it an isolated incident.
Commenters on Workplace joked, asking if performance reviews would now include mixed martial arts style fights.
In addition to White, John Elkann, CEO of the Italian car holding Exor, was appointed to Meta's management board.
Some employees asked what value automotive and entertainment executives could bring to Meta and whether White's addition reflected the company's values. One post suggested that new board appointments would help forge political alliances, which can be valuable but could also change company culture in unintended or undesirable ways.
Workplace comments referring to White's personal history were flagged and removed from discussions, according to posts from the internal app seen by CNBC.
An employee who identified himself as a member of Meta's internal community relations team sent Workplace a reminder about the company's “community engagement expectations,” or CEE, policy regarding use of the platform.
“The community has flagged many comments for review,” the employee wrote. “It is important that we maintain a respectful work environment where people can do their jobs to the best of their ability.”
A member of the internal community relations team added that “insulting, criticizing or antagonizing our colleagues or members of the Board is not compatible with Central and Eastern Europe.”
Several employees responded to the note, stating that even respectful posts, if critical, were removed, which constitutes a corporate form of censorship.
One employee said she wanted to show support for “women and all voices” in removing critical comments.
Meta declined to comment.
—CNBC's Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report.
TO WATCH: : Meta adds Dana White, John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst to its board of directors.
