No change in fact-checking commitment, election integrity priority: Meta at GlobalFact 10

In the face of recent cuts and layoffs, Meta’s commitment to fact-checking hasn’t changed, said Kaitlin McCulley, manager of Meta’s Integrity Partnerships program, during a panel on the platform’s approach to misinformation at GlobalFact10 in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, June 29, 2023. 

Over the last few months, Meta has executed the final rounds of its “year of efficiency,” where financial tightening and cutbacks have been the response to slower growth within the tech industry. McCulley insisted that partnerships with third-party fact-checkers like Logically Facts are “the core of our program.” 

“What I think the year of efficiency means for us is doubling down on that, making sure it works very well,” she said. “For us as a team, we are trying to work more closely together, figuring out how we can learn from different regions and use that to improve overall output and efficiency.” The Meta representatives present stated a focus on deepening existing partnerships.

High risk elections

Meta representatives said that elections will be a priority for the platform’s integrity partnerships in the coming year, mentioning upcoming elections in Pakistan and Bangladesh this year, and in Indonesia, India, and the U.S. in 2024. 

“Right now, we are looking at how can we make sure we are ready for these high-risk events like elections and making sure our existing partners have the tools and support they need to be most efficient,” said McCulley. 

Speaking on the upcoming election in India, Trushar Barot, who leads the fact-checking partner program for Meta in India, said the company was anticipating “a difficult year.” He called the Indian election the biggest democratic event in history, with around one billion people voting, and doing so digitally. “It comes, obviously, with a lot of risk in terms of making sure election integrity is a priority for us as a platform,” said Barot. 

Looking to fact-checkers

The panel also discussed the evolving challenges involving generative AI. “This is a fast-changing world we’re in with gen-AI, and we don’t have all the answers yet. We want to approach this in a collaborative way,” said Barot, seeking feedback from fact-checkers on what gaps and risks they see in dealing with AI-generated misinformation. 

“We want to know how you are seeing this content making its way to various platforms,” said McCulley, “to make sure we are tracking and that we have good visibility of the content that is generated by AI that is on our platforms and is coming to our platforms from other social media sites as well.” Looking to fact-checkers for guidance and support in tracking and tackling the threat of misleading AI content is Meta’s essential and ongoing strategy for tackling this issue.

Logically Facts is a third-party fact-checking partner for Meta in the U.K.