Are community notes better than fact-checking in spotting fake news?

We live in a world where social media platforms are taking over. From communication to schooling, everything is starting to join the digital world and talking about elevating one's social media presence. However, these vital tools have certain challenges, including misinformation.

Let’s look at what exactly fact-checking and community notes are and how they compare to each other.

Fact-checking

Fact-checking refers to the process where organisations and independent journalists assess the accuracy of any claim posted using their expert knowledge and evidence-based research. Some of the most reputable fact-checking organisations include Snopes, FactCheck.org, and PolitiFact.

Here are some of the key features of fact-checking:

• Expert-driven
• Authority
• Curated content
• Explanatory reports

Journalists or organisations responsible for fact-checking typically select specific statements or trending topics they review. They have full control over what is fact-checked, and misleading information may slip through their fingers.

Community notes

Community notes, introduced by X, previously known as Twitter, is a tool that empowers social media users to contribute to verifying posts. As a community, we can submit notes showing why a post is misleading and provide corrections.

Other users then vote on the accuracy and usefulness of the notes, and those content that is widely verified as inaccurate may be flagged or removed. This system gives you, the user, a voice and a role in shaping the truth on social media.

Some of the key features include:

• User-driven
• Democratic participation
• Real-time engagement
• Decentralised control

A word from Meta: Safer, smarter social media

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, said that his social media company is ending its fact-checking program and will replace it with a community-driven system similar to what Elon Musk used on X (though critics of the media argue that this could be a reason for many people choosing Bluesky over X).

In a statement in 2023, Meta mentioned that its fact-checking program had expanded to include nearly 100 organisations working in more than 60 languages worldwide. Meta plans to continue moderating content related to drugs, terrorism, and anything related to children.

Facebook’s trust and safety moderation team is moving from California to Texas and other locations in the United States. Meta confirmed that these changes would take place over the next two months and that they will continue to refine them over the rest of the year.

Can Meta win Trump back to the platform?

Meta is in the middle of repositioning the company for the incoming Trump administration. Since Trump's victory over Kamala Harris, Meta, amongst others, has donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. Meta is determined to repair their relations with the current president after Facebook banned him following the 6 January attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

Zuckerberg shuffled his senior management by replacing Nick Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister, with Joel Kaplan. He also referred to Trump’s victory as a “cultural tipping point”.

Meta's CEO has said he would need the help of the White House, as they could create more relaxed AI regulations than those in the European Union. Meta also needs more data centres and cutting-edge computer chips to help train and run its advanced AI tools and models.

Will dining with Trump and donations worth millions repair the broken relationship?

Meta's shift could reshape trust and transparency

According to many media businesses, entrusting social media users to moderate social media platforms effectively is a “smart” move that will have many benefits in the future. X implemented this move, and it worked. It could work for Meta as well.

People can now decide which posts need more context. This is intended to be a quicker way of achieving the original goal of providing people with information. The systems used in the past made many mistakes, too, and people started to lose trust in Facebook.

However, not all are fans of the system. Some argue that we can't be experts in everything to vet whether it's true or not.

Spotting misinformation with confidence

Misinformation on social media platforms can influence public opinion and shape real-world events, whether it is a viral social media post, a headline in your newsfeed or a story shared by a friend. It's important to know how to accurately research and find information online as this is part of the skillset you need to assess and navigate the online world confidently.

• Check whether the source sharing the information has a proven track record of sharing reliable information.
• Take a second to think about the intentions behind the post. Keeping your emotions in check is also important, as content is designed to trigger an emotional reaction.
• Check the date of the post, as many posts go viral for a second or third time years after the original post.
• Articles can often be shared out of context, and we are all guilty of sharing posts on social media without reading the full story, so check the content before sharing.

It is vital to have more than one information source to cross-check, as breaking news events are usually misleading and false. Both fact-checking and community notes play important roles in combating misinformation.