Elon Musk applauds Zuckerberg’s move ending fact-checking on Facebook, Instagram

Musk gives nod to Zuckerberg for following his lead in effort to restore free speech on social media

X owner Elon Musk gave a nod to Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday after the Meta Platforms CEO followed his lead in scrapping fact-checking on his social media platforms.

In reaction to news of Zuckerberg’s pledge to “restore” free speech to Facebook, Instagram and other Meta platforms by getting rid of fact-checkers and replacing them with “Community Notes” similar to what Musk did on X, Musk replied, “This is cool.”

X CEO Linda Yaccarino celebrated Zuckerberg’s move, too, writing on X that Community Notes has been “profoundly successful while keeping freedom of speech sacred.”

She added, “It’s a smart move by Zuck and something I expect other platforms will follow now that X has shown how powerful it is. Bravo!”

Fox News first reported that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to “restore free expression” across its platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have “gone too far.”

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, President-elect Donald Trump said he thinks Meta’s “presentation was excellent.”

“They have come a long way,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments come after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video Tuesday morning, saying his company is “going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.”

Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to “manage content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to “political pressure,” executives said, but admitted the system had “gone too far.”

Meta Chief Global Policy Director Joel Kaplan told Fox News Digital that Meta is also changing some of its own content moderation rules, especially those that they feel are “too restrictive and not allowing enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.”

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As for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital the company has “a real opportunity now.”

“We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression,” Kaplan said, referring to the incoming Trump administration. “It gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.”