Today in Focus A new Facebook for the era of President Trump
Jan 14, 2025
Jesse Stiller, a fact-checker with experience combating misinformation at Meta, and Chris Stokel-Walker, a technology journalist focused on Meta’s societal impact, dive into the shifting landscape of social media under Mark Zuckerberg. They discuss the alarming end of partnerships with fact-checkers and its implications for the spread of misinformation. The duo reflects on notorious incidents like Pizzagate, the complexities of digital fact-checking, and the potential consequences of new tech regulations on user safety and content moderation.
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Pizzagate Incident
- Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory about a child sex ring, spread rapidly online due to a lack of fact-checking.
- This culminated in a man bringing a gun to the implicated pizza parlor, highlighting the real-world dangers of misinformation.
Trump Rally Incident Fact-Check
- Following an incident at a Trump rally, false claims, including a staged shooting and Trump attending a UFC fight, spread online.
- Stiller's team quickly debunked these claims, highlighting the need for rapid response fact-checking in a volatile political climate.
Self-Policing Ineffectiveness
- Self-policing on social media platforms is generally ineffective.
- Removing fact-checkers creates a scary prospect of unchecked misinformation spreading.