Richard Arnold: No more fact checkers for Meta

Facebook and Instagram are ending the use of third-party fact-checkers in favour of user-based moderation. 

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg says fact-checkers are too politically biased, and it's time to return to the roots of free expression. 

Correspondent Richard Arnold says it means platforms will now rely on user-notes and comments, following the example of X, formerly Twitter. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks Be follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes to the US Now and it's good morning to
Richard Arnold.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
There's been a great response to a New Zealand film
premiere in North America.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
That's right, a New Zealand film is winning rays for
its North American American debut on the eve of its
relief there. It's the movie Tina, meaning mother in some poem.
It was written and directed by Mickey Makasivam, who grew
up in Wellington, and at Just Screens here at the
Palm Springs International Film Festival, where it drew cheers and
a standing ovation. I drew a lot of audience, but

(00:46):
also from Pacific and Polynesian communities in California, including some
folks I spoke with who traveled a couple of hours.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
To see this.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
It is a story about teaching and mentoring and the
redemptive power of music, and about dealing with personal challenges
and tragedy, says the director.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Tina's mother and teacher who suffers through some tragedy in
her life and is forced to go back to her
old job, but she doesn't want to go back to
and that job is to be a teacher at a
very white, very rich and privileged private school.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
So that is just the beginning of this film Psaga.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
She encounters some kids who are facing troubles of their own.
They're not you know, normal privileged kids that you would expect.
They also have troubles. She connects with them and forms
a choir and takes them to the national choir competition. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
The film stars on a Paler Politiva, well known actress,
but this is making. She was first feature film he's
worked till now, has been in TV, music video. He
has a masterful touch worth their movie. Here is a
clip do you.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Want to rub your hairs together? Like?

Speaker 4 (01:50):
This requires about singing?

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Ya?

Speaker 4 (02:00):
Okay, that's a week of progress.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
It is also a work about respect for culture.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
What is this?

Speaker 1 (02:07):
There a bunch of spoiled, rich kids that have everything
they could ever want. You don't know them.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
You can't just throw some Sunday school group to get
us to sin Conboy.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Are you felt that I could give these kids something?

Speaker 1 (02:19):
This is that something?

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
This film debut in Hawaii and its New Zealand release
is set for the twenty seventh of next month. It
is a fantastic film. It also struck me directly because
when I was in my twenties, so going back aways,
I went to up here in western somewhore On took
a bus trip to the fast side of the island
at that time without realizing there was no return trip
available for day to day. So I wound up in

(02:42):
a Samoan village the guest of the local village leader
and when he found out that I could play some
piano and he recruited me for a village music competition
where I became part of the whole village process. The
film has some echoes of that, or, as the director
told me, he already experienced something of this. So Tina
hugely enjoyable New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Film, fantastic. You still tinkle the ivories, Richard, not.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
So much anymore.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
It's been a one and look, fact checking is it
now dead? At Facebook and Instagram?

Speaker 5 (03:09):
Looks to be.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, they're getting rid of fact checkers at Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg,
the head of Meta Facebook, Instagram and so on, says
they are starting here in the next few months with
a new approach to social media posts in advance of
the new Trump term. This is the latest move of
Zuckerberg is shifting to publicly gain favor with Trump. He
says that instead of the third party factcheckers at checkers

(03:31):
that social media tried after twenty sixteen, when you crall
Russia and other foreign parties in a venda tried to
affect elections around the place, they will now rely on
user notes or social media comments, says Zuckerberg.

Speaker 5 (03:43):
To get rid of fact checkers and replace them with
community notes, similar to acts starting in the US. We
tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming
the arbiters of truth. But the fact checkers have just
been too politically biased.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, you know, a study last year found that fact
checks had reduced the belief in false post by about
twenty eight percent. That was their tally. But Joel Kaplan,
who's been installed as Meta's new global policy chief, says
of the new system.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Somebody can write a note, and then the way it
works is different. Different people on the platform can sort
of vote on that note, and if you get people
who usually disagree who all say yeah, that sounds right,
then that note gets put on the post and people see.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
It truth black public acclaim mate. This is taking a
page from Elon Musk on Twitter or x accept at
mask of course, off an intervence personally to declare what
is really of interest and what is a fact.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Oh well, I guess we'll just watch watch out that
one on wines Hey. Thanks very much, Richard. That is
Richard Arnold and the US For more from News Talks
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