Meta Ends Fact-Checking: What This Means for the Church
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta will end third-party fact-checking on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads in 2025.
Let’s discuss what this will mean for ministry and church leaders on social media.
#1: Community Notes to Replace Fact-Checkers
Instead of independent fact-checkers verifying and demoting posts considered to be harmful or against Meta’s community standards, Community Notes contributors (you, the user) will now have the power to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context.
Over the next few months, Meta will:
Get rid of fact-checking control
Stop demoting fact-checked content
Remove full-screen overlay warnings on posts
Per Meta, this update will “give people across a diverse range of perspectives the power to decide what's helpful for others to see” … with less bias.
Want to be a Community Notes contributor? Click on your preferred platform: Facebook, Instagram, Threads to sign up.
YOUR IMPACT: You may see an increase in false content or fake news in your feed.
If a post has been reviewed and declared “troublesome" by Community Notes contributors, there will be a small warning label on the post indicating more information is available.
It will then be up to the user to decide if it is in their best interest to learn more.
Next Steps
First, fact-check content (google search) before commenting or sharing it with others.
Second, regularly check in with your senior saints on social media. Historically, older users have been impacted the most by misinformation and online scams.
If you notice false information is being shared by your friends and loved ones, kindly share the most accurate information with tools or tips on how to spot misleading posts in the future.
Two great fact checking sites are Factcheck.org and Politifact.com (both organizations were previously used by Meta).
MINISTRY IMPACT
A 2020 Princeton study found that people spend an average of 64 seconds consuming fake news articles compared to only 42 seconds on verified news stories.
- Forbes Magazine, 2020
If people consume fake social media content 22 seconds longer than verified content, there’s a high probability the false information will also be shared in offline conversations at your church.
These conversations usually begin with “I saw on Facebook that…” and “My friend shared it so it must be true”.
Next Steps:
If you witness a friend or loved one sharing false information, please speak up. The Community Notes feature will not catch every post. In fact, it will now catch less “bad content” than before, so it may be up to you to be your group’s unofficial fact-checker.
#2 Allowing More Speech
In the next few weeks, Meta will begin to relax content restrictions on hot-button topics like immigration and gender identity.
Although there will be less restrictions across the board, Meta will continue, if not double-down, on tackling high-severity content violations, like terrorism, child sexual exploitation, and drugs.
For less severe violations (think politician topics), Meta will now rely on users to report posts before action is taken.
Here’s the full list of content not permitted on Meta platforms.
YOUR IMPACT
If you have ever had a post removed or demoted (less reach) for discussing hot-button topics, it probably won’t happen again in the future.
If your content is removed, your appeals process will be shorter than before. Per Meta, they have added extra personnel to their content moderation teams and moved all teams related to trust and safety to Texas & other US locations, where there is less concern about bias.
Next Steps:
With less restrictions, your feed may include more emotionally-driven content.
If at any time, you feel the content you’re viewing is affecting your mental health, please utilize the feed personalization filters available on each post.
If you’re still feeling off-balance by the content you’re seeing across social media, walk away for a short or extended period of time.
MINISTRY IMPACT
If your church or ministry is involved in social issues like trafficking and immigration, your posts may have been demoted (less reach) or removed due to Meta’s community standards. In severe cases, your account may have been taken down.
This response from Meta may have prompted your social media team to stop publishing church-related content on topics in the political or social space.
If this is the case, your ministry will now have the freedom to share what your church is doing and how God is impacting lives in each of those areas.
Also, this update brings positive news for your church leaders, as some pastors and ministers have expressed frustrations over profile censorship when addressing trending topics.
Next Steps:
You may be tempted to jump back into the deep-end on social media, but if your content has been censored, flagged, or demoted in the past, it may be in your best interest to return to those topics slowly.
Start by joining conversations in comment threads before publishing new posts. Remember, it will take Meta some time to fine-tune their new systems.
#3: More Political Content
In response to complaints from users in 2021, Meta reduced posts about elections, politics, or social issues. This year, Meta will reintroduce “civic content” into your feeds based on your in-app viewing and engagement habits.
First, you will begin to see more political and social posts from people and pages you follow. If you engage with those posts (like, comment, or share) or linger on a post for any period of time, Meta will rank these type of posts as “preferred content” in your feed.
This will result in an increase in similar content each time you open Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
YOUR IMPACT
If content across social media stressed you out during the 2024 presidential elections, you may see considerably more political content in your feed during the next midterm or presidential election.
Next Steps:
It will be up to you to personalize your feed content, and determine if a social media break or detox is needed during political seasons.
Take this time to do things that bring you peace and joy.
MINISTRY IMPACT
As mentioned in the previous section, if your church or ministry is involved in political or social issues, you now have the ability to share how your church is making a difference on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads without being penalized.
Furthermore, you social media team will no longer need to use creative phrasing or words to describe your ministry efforts in this area. Posts using the same language as correspondents on television will no longer be flagged.
Next Steps:
Start by slowly posting content in these topic categories to see how your posts are received by followers and non-followers.
If you notice an uptick in engagement (likes, comments, and shares) and reach (the number of people viewing your posts), consider it a sign you’re no longer being censored.
I hope you found this information helpful. If you have any questions, or would like more information on content ideas for your church or ministry, leave a message below or select the contact me option in the header menu.
Also, if you would like to see more social media news summaries like this on my blog, please let me know in the comment section.
P.S … Here’s a great article from Buffer on creating content that pleases the algorithm and expands your reach on Facebook.
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Sources:
More Speech and Fewer Mistakes (Meta)
Meta’s Community Standards Policy (Meta)
Facebook Spreads Fake News Faster Than Any Other Website (Forbes)
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