02:36 PM EST, 01/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Meta Platforms ( META ) said Tuesday that it will end its third-party fact-checking program in the US and introduce a more personalized approach to political content as it seeks to restore free expression on its platforms.

The Facebook and Instagram parent rolled out its independent fact-checking program in 2016, but "ended up with too much content being fact checked that people would understand to be legitimate political speech and debate," Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said in a statement. "A program intended to inform too often became a tool to censor."

The social media giant said it instead plans to begin moving to a "community notes" program over the next couple of months. Community notes will be written and rated by contributing users and will require agreement between people with various perspectives to help prevent biased ratings, according to the company.

"We've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship," Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a video announcement posted on the company's website. "The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech. So we're going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms."

Meta's shares were down 1.5% in Tuesday afternoon trade.

The company said it will give Facebook, Instagram and Threads users an option to see more political content in their feeds.

Meta is removing various restrictions on immigration, gender identity and other topics. "It's not right that things can be said on TV or the floor of Congress, but not on our platforms," Kaplan said, adding that the policy changes could take a few weeks to be fully implemented.

Meta said it has hired extra staff to review its enforcement decisions and, in more cases, it is requiring multiple reviewers to reach a decision in order to take something down.

"We're going to work with (President-elect Donald Trump) to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more," Zuckerberg said. Trump is scheduled to take office Jan. 20.

On Monday, Meta said it added Dana White, John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst to its board. White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is reportedly a friend of Trump. Elkann is CEO of European investment company Exor, while Songhurst is a technology investor.

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