Meta Ends Fact-Checking Program

Meta has abruptly terminated its third-party fact-checking program across Facebook and Instagram, dismantling what remained of its misinformation defenses ahead of the 2024 election. The surprise move comes after months of pressure from conservative lawmakers who accused the company of "anti-right bias," though internal memos reveal executives were equally concerned about AI-generated content overwhelming human reviewers. Within hours of the announcement, viral posts claiming "Biden will ban hamburgers" and "Trump invented Bitcoin" gained millions of views, while previously flagged conspiracy theories resurfaced with "VINDICATED" captions. Researchers at NYU's Center for Cybersecurity documented a 412% spike in engagement for known false claims about climate change and vaccines within the first 48 hours. Meta's spokesperson stated the company will now rely on users "exercising personal responsibility" through its "viral content circuit breaker" - which briefly slows (but doesn't remove) posts spreading too quickly. Meanwhile, the last remaining fact-checkers are sharing screenshots of farewell emails alongside their final corrections - ironically going viral themselves as users ironically engage with what they're calling "the post-truth era's first meta-moment."