Australia's Finance Minister Jim Chalmers said today he was "very concerned" about technology company Meta's decision to end its fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram in the United States.
Australia, one of the countries at the forefront of regulating tech giants, is concerned about the impact of misinformation on social media, Chalmers reiterated.
"Disinformation is very dangerous and we have seen it explode in recent years," the minister told Australia's ABC television.
"This is a very damaging development that undermines our democracy. It can be detrimental to people's mental health to receive misinformation on social media, which is why we are, of course, concerned about this issue," he added.
Meta will end its fact-checking program in the United States, taking a step back in its fight against misinformation, the company's founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday.
"We're going to end fact-checking and replace it with community-based ratings, similar to those on X (formerly Twitter), starting in the United States," Mark Zuckerberg said in a message on social media.
According to the Facebook founder, "fact-checkers have been very politically driven and have done more to reduce trust than to improve it, especially in the United States."
Australia is investing in trusted Australian news providers, such as the ABC and national news agency AAP, to ensure people have reliable sources of information, Chalmers said.
Disinformation and misinformation have become "an increasingly important component of our media, particularly our social networks," the minister lamented.
The French Foreign Ministry also expressed concern on Wednesday about Meta's decision.
"Freedom of expression, a fundamental right protected in France and Europe, cannot be confused with a right to virality, which would authorize the dissemination of false content, affecting millions of users, without filtering or moderation," said the spokesperson for French diplomacy.
The announcement from Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) comes at a time when Republican voters and rival social network X owner Elon Musk have repeatedly complained about fact-checking programs, comparing them to censorship programs.
"The recent elections appear to be a cultural watershed that once again prioritizes freedom of expression," said the Meta chief.
At the same time, the group should review and simplify its content rules across all its platforms and "do away with a number of red lines on topics like immigration and gender that are no longer part of the mainstream discourse," Zuckerberg added.
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