, The New York Times; Meta’s Decision to End Fact-Checking Could Have Disastrous Consequences
"What happens on Meta’s platforms is more than just a matter of company policy. The prevalence of false information on social media and the ease with which it can proliferate have helped fuel division and violence in the United States and abroad. The company’s addictive algorithms were so effective in supercharging posts encouraging ethnic cleansing in Myanmar that Amnesty International called upon Meta to pay reparations to the Rohingya people. (The company said “we have been too slow to prevent misinformation and hate on Facebook” in Myanmar, and eventually took steps to proactively identify and remove posts.)
I first learned the importance of fact-checking while working as a reporter in Sri Lanka in 2018, when an episode of violence tied to Meta’s platforms rocked the country."
