Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement that the social media site will no longer work with third-party fact checkers makes it all the more important for the public to help fact checkers like us at Wisconsin Watch.
More on that in a minute.
Before joining Wisconsin Watch, I worked for PolitiFact. Some of my fact-checking reporting was funded by Zuckerberg’s company, Meta. I spent a lot of time debunking posts on Facebook and Instagram.
Last week, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, Zuckerberg announced he was ending Meta’s fact-checking program.
That means less fact-checking of social media by PolitiFact and other independent fact checkers.
Wisconsin Watch wasn’t part of that program, so we’re not directly affected by Zuckerberg’s decision. We can carry on as we have with our fact briefs, which are done in partnership with Gigafact. Our briefs, which answer a question yes or no in 150 words, have been held up as a model.
But the loss of Meta’s program underscores the importance of citizen involvement in fact-checking — whether it’s checking claims made on social media or anywhere at all.
It’s my hope that Zuckerberg’s decision will spur citizens all the more to keep an eye out for surprising and dubious claims — and to bring them to the attention of fact checkers.
Wisconsin Watch monitors what Wisconsin’s politicians are saying and what other folks are saying about Wisconsin. But we could use your eyes and ears, too.
If you come across a statement that seems off — or is interesting, but you can’t tell whether it’s true or false — please let us know. Including a link to the statement helps, too.
Then post our published briefs to inform the debates happening in your social media channels.
We do our best to make our fact briefs a trusted source. And we’d appreciate your support.
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