Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram and Threads, had long funded fact-checking efforts to review content. But many Republicans chafed against those policies, arguing that they were disproportionately stifling right-wing thought.
Last year, Trump threatened Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that he could "spend the rest of his life in prison” if he attempted to interfere with the 2024 election.
Since Trump’s electoral victory, Zuckerberg has tried to
mend the relationship by donating $1 million (
through Meta) to Trump's inaugural fund and promoting longtime conservative Joel Kaplan to become Meta’s new global policy chief. This policy change is one of the first major decisions to be made under Kaplan’s leadership
, and follows the model of Community Notes championed by Trump ally Elon Musk at X, in which unpaid users, not third-party experts, police content.
Zuckerberg, in a video statement, acknowledged that the policy change might mean that “we’re going to catch less bad stuff.” When asked at a press conference Tuesday if he thought Meta’s change was in response to his previous threats, Trump said, “Probably.”