Mark Zuckerberg says anyone who quits Meta over lack of fact-checking is virtue signaling

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shrugged off criticism that his new policy that does away with third party fact-checking and censorship will alienate users — insisting that anyone who quits company platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads would be “virtual signaling.”Zuckerberg responded to a post on Threads that criticized him for Tuesday’s decision, which many calling .him a “coward” and a “liar” who was “kissing the ring” of President-elect Donald Trump.The Meta boss was defiant in downplaying the possibility of a mass exodus of users.“Some people may leave our platforms for virtue signaling, but I think the vast majority and many new users will find that these changes make the products better,” Zuckerberg wrote.Mary-Frances Makichen, a Threads user who has 253 followers, lamented that Meta and Zuckerberg “are counting on the fact that it’s too hard for people to leave Threads and IG.”“Meta has us in a chokehold.They make money off our presence in order to continue to be in business and yet it’s too difficult for people to leave,” Makichen wrote.

“This is not a great cycle.Meta is a system based on a negative feedback loop that just keeps reinforcing itself.”Zuckerberg replied to the post, writing: “No — I’m counting on these changes actually making our platforms better.”The Meta chief defended his decision to transition to a “Community Notes”-style format of fact-checking similar to that used on X, the social media platform run by owner Elon Musk.Zuckerberg predicted that Community Notes “will be more effective than fact-checkers, reducing the number of people whose accounts get mistakenly banned is good, people want to be able to discuss civic topics and make arguments that are in the mainstream of political discourse, etc.”Zuckerberg’s critics were not convinced.“You bowed down to [President-elect Donald] Trump, because you are afraid of what might happen if you dare to stand up to him,” one Threads use...