Meta Is Going All In on Community Notes

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More social platforms are increasingly axing third-party fact checking as a control against misinformation in favor of user-generated notes on existing content. Last month, Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to cut fact-checking programs on Meta platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—and replace them with Community Notes, which add corrections and context to posts that are "confusing or potentially misleading."

A similar feature launched on Twitter in January 2021 as the Birdwatch program, which was rebranded as Community Notes and expanded after Elon Musk acquired the platform in 2022. Community Notes exist in lieu of the ability to report misleading content on X. Musk has both praised the feature as "awesome" and said he is "working to fix" it. X users can still apply to contribute their own notes.

YouTube has also tested a community notes feature that allows users to add context to videos on the platform. Those who meet eligibility criteria can sign up for the program's waitlist in the YouTube mobile app (under Profile > Settings > General > Help inform viewers).

When Community Notes are submitted on Meta's platforms by approved contributors, other approved contributors have to agree that the context is helpful before the note is actually published on a post (though the threshold for what constitutes a "helpful" note isn't clear). According to Meta's FAQ, Community Notes will be phased in and visible to users across its apps "over the next few months."

How to sign up to write Meta Community Notes

As of this writing, Meta has a waitlist for users to be notified once the Community Notes beta launches. You can join the waitlist via Facebook, Instagram, or Threads. Only U.S.-based users are eligible, and you must be over 18, have an account that is older than 6 months and in good standing, and have either a verified phone number or two-factor authentication set up on your account.

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