Facebook will stop fact-checking Donald Trump after he announces his 2024 presidential run due to Meta’s political speech policy, CNN reported Tuesday.
“Some of you have reached out seeking guidance regarding fact-checking political speech in anticipation of a potential candidacy announcement from former President Trump,”A Meta manager emailed fact checkers Tuesday, according a memo obtained CNN. The memo reminded employees “political speech is ineligible for fact-checking. This includes the words a politician says as well as photo, video, or other content that is clearly labeled as created by the politician or their campaign.”
was unable to obtain a copy of the memo but a representative for Meta directed us to the company’s long-standing policy on exempting politicians from their third-party fact-checking program.
The reiteration of the company’s existing policy comes as Trump was According to reports, they are poised for an announcementHe decided to run in 2024.
Although the ex-president is banned from Facebook at this time, Nick Clegg, executive of Meta Platforms, is still allowed to post. Two years after his initial suspension, the platform will be looking at allowing Trump to return to Facebook in January 2023.
“We define a ‘politician’ as candidates running for office, current office holders – and, by extension, many of their cabinet appointees – along with political parties and their leaders,”The memo ended with the conclusion that “if former President Trump makes a clear, public announcement that he is running for office, he would be considered a politician under our program policies.”
Trump was blocked from nearly every major social media platform including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in the days that followed the Jan. 6, Capitol riots. Trump is still banned on Facebook. However, he announced a presidential run. Reproductions of his speech will not be subject to fact-checking.
Recent speculation has suggested that Elon Musk, the new Twitter boss, might welcome Trump back to the platform. Musk however denies this. AnnouncementIn November, “Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks.”