Meta Delivers a Gut-Punch to Democracy

By Willie Brown

News that Meta (formerly Facebook) is ending its fact-checking policy for political content is the latest gut punch to democracy.

Here we have Meta’s billionaire creator Mark Zuckerberg, asserting that ending fact-checking on the platform will help ensure free speech.  This is nothing more than him allowing hate speech to masquerade as free speech.  He has pushed the responsibility of fact-checking onto Meta users—as if the average reader is going to take the time to see if what they see or read is really true.  Meta is not a news organization per se.  But it is filled with news stories that spread like wildfire.  So, Zuckerberg has literally opened the flood gates to allow anyone with a gripe, bias or conspiracy theory to pass off their thoughts as legitimate news with no guardrails. It has now become a free-for-all for anyone to spread misinformation.  

It wouldn’t be so bad if Meta did not have over 500 million users.  Shouldn’t a platform of this size be required to maintain fact-checking.  This is way too much influence to allow misinformation to go unchecked.

I don’t know what made Meta go from a company that challenged Trump’smisleading content in 2020 to becoming a major Trump supporter.  It just goes to show you that almost anyone can be bought.  Even a billionaire like Zuckerberg.

The fact that the absence of fact-checking only applies to news in the U.S., and that the organization is moving its content moderators from Bue California to RedTexas, clearly shows his allegiance to Trump. Zuckerberg said the move will “help remove the concern that biased employees are overly censoring content.”  Who does he think he’s kidding?

It’s no secret that Trump wants to be a dictator.  One of the first things a dictator does is control the media by suppressing critics and spreading lies   If Trump can control the news media, he can control the people.  This was made quite clear in the last election, where millions were deceived into believing he would actually bring down the high cost of living, increase jobs, etc.  All the while, his primary agenda was to win the election so he could avoid going to jail for his 37 felony offenses.

Having no one to check facts is especially troubling for the GenZ Generation who gets their news primarily from Meta and other social media like X (formerly Twitter), owned by Trump’s billionaire buddy Elon Musk.

As I reflect on this horrible decision to abandon responsibility, I am digging my heels in and hope that other independent news media will do the same.  If we ever needed actual, factual reporting it is now.  Inglewood Today was started to challenge distorted news and misinformation about Inglewood, primarily from the L.A.Times.  Black and Latino residents were automatically linked to negative news.  Inglewood took the rap for bad news, even if events occurred elsewhere.  Anything good that happened here was ignored.  

Little by little, we turned the corner and helped change the image of Inglewood toreflect the thriving community that it is today—one that has attracted major corporations and has become one of the fastest growing cities around. This did not happen by printing lies and downplaying the positive.  

Fact-checking is an integral part of integrity.  No legitimate media organization—regardless of size—can publish accurate news without it.  Anything less than that is propaganda.  As platforms like Meta and X work lockstep with Trump to push his dangerous agenda, independent news outlets will have to fight back harder.  Inglewood Today is not beholden to any politician or owned by any news conglomerate.  We have our own voice and will continue to shout from the rooftops wherever lies, racism, injustice, and distorted news may appear.  We will continue to highlight the positive aspects of life here and report on newsworthy individuals whom mainstream media ignores.

That said, I am asking all readers and viewers to stand with us and help keep independent journalism alive.  Join us as we continue to ensure your voice is heard. Send any news items to our editor Veronica Mackey at veronica@inglewoodtoday.com.  Address advertising inquiries towillie@inglewoodtoday.com.