Meta to Launch Community Notes in the U.S. for Content Moderation From March 18
Meta is set to test its new Community Notes feature starting on March 18th in the United States, marking a major shift in its approach to managing content. This new tool will allow users to add context to posts across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, similar to the system already in place on X (formerly Twitter).
Meta's new feature will be powered by an open-source algorithm developed by X, with plans to adapt it for Meta’s platforms over time. Instead of relying on third-party fact-checkers, Community Notes will be crowdsourced, with contributors able to write and rate notes, which will be displayed publicly only when there is a broad agreement among people with differing viewpoints. Notes will not be tied to user names, ensuring that content is evaluated based on context, not identity.
Around 200,000 people have signed up to become contributors, and the system will gradually roll out with a focus on learning and refining the approach. However, contributors won’t initially be able to submit notes on ads, but they will on other forms of content, and notes won’t impact how content is distributed across the platform. The program aims to provide more diverse perspectives and less bias than the previous fact-checking system Meta used, which was criticized for its political biases.
The company hopes that Community Notes will foster greater transparency and help counter misinformation by providing context without the penalties or limitations previously associated with fact-checked content.
