More social media apps are moving away from fact-checking through third-parties and employees, and relying on users instead. Meta is the newest addition to the platforms changing their regulations. This will affect both Instagram and Facebook. It is following X, formerly known as Twitter, on this move. X has used Community Notes since 2022, after Elon Musk took over. 

   “Community Notes aim to create a better informed world by empowering people on X to collaboratively add context to potentially misleading posts. Contributors can leave notes on any post and if enough contributors from different points of view rate that note as helpful, the note will be publicly shown on a post,” X states on its website. 

   The results of the system seem to have achieved their purpose. It has increased trust in fact-checking on social media, according to a study published in PNAS Nexus in July 2024. It is also supported because it is a shift away from what some consider censorship. 

   In a post on X, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, said the system is “a huge win for free speech.” Fewer  posts will be removed, leading to more content on the app promoting many views. However, this does come with some risks, notably the potential for misinformation or disinformation without the original third-party fact-checking. 

  “The reality is that this is a trade-off,” Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted on Instagram. “It means that we are going to catch less bad stuff.”