Shortly before Donald Trump returned to the White House, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta would end his Third Party Data Verification Program And I would bet on a system of community notes in the purest X style, the social network of Elon Musk, one of the leading allies of the new president. With this decision, goal sought to leave users with the task of pointing out and contextualizing misinformation on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
When Zuckerberg made the announcement, it was clear that, although the company pointed out with this new approach, its implementation would gradually begin in the United States. There were no indications of a possible deployment in the European Union, where the Digital Services Law could mean an obstacle. Now, with more details about the initial launch, we can get a better idea of its operation.
Fixed goal in the calendar the beginning of its new initiative. The social networks giant has said that it will begin to test the community notes on March 18. That is, in less than a week, this new approach will take its first steps. As planned, the deployment will be gradual and will be limited, for now, to the United States. From that day, the program taxpayers will begin to leave their collaborations.
How will the system work? The community notes system in Meta allows users to add context to publications that can be misleading or need additional information. However, not any note is published immediately: there is an evaluation process that, as explained by Meta, seeks to ensure that contributions are useful and reflect different perspectives.
- A collaborator detects a publication on Facebook, Instagram or Threads that needs context. For example, a viral post says: “Bats are completely blind and depend only on sounding to move.”
- The collaborator writes an explanatory note. It must have a maximum of 500 characters and include a link to a reliable source. Example: “It is a common myth. Bats are not blind; They have good vision and combine ecolocation, hearing and smell to adapt to different environments. More info here: (Link). “
- Other collaborators check the note and vote if it is useful. It is not published automatically. You must have the support of people with different perspectives, not just with a majority.
- If the note receives enough support, it is published. It appears next to the original publication to give context. The publication about bats is still visible, but with the explanatory note.
Goal will use the X algorithm. The company led by Mark Zuckerberg has chosen to use, in a first stage, the algorithm of the X -community notes. This system, which drives a similar function in the social network previously known as Twitter, is open source and is available in Github, allowing anyone to audit and reuse it.
However, the adoption of the X algorithm by goal is not a definitive step. The company plans to take it as a basis for developing its own version. “As our own version develops, we may explore different or tight algorithms to support the way in which the community notes are classified and described.”
No scope penalty. Goal ensures that its new system against misinformation will not punish the distribution of publications. Unlike the old fact verifiers program, where the marked contents could lose visibility, the community notes will only add context without affecting who can see them or how far they can go.
But the notes will not appear yet. As we have said, the community notes system will begin to take its first steps on Facebook, Instagram and Threads this month, but users will not see them yet. It is an evaluation phase. The idea is that the deployment occurs has taken the first step to dismantle its external verification system. And he has done it with the X algorithm when the company is sure it works as a wait. During this period, they plan to make more adjustments and improve the system.
Old system verification labels will continue to appear in the United States until the new system begins to deploy generalized in that country.
And what will happen in Spain? Although the Meta External Verification Program began in 2016, it did not land in Spain until 2019. In the country, the multinational continues to have verifiers such as Newtral, Damn.es and AFP, which continue with their usual work. Meta ensures that its intention is to expand community notes globally, but it remains to be seen how possible challenges related to European legislation.
Images | Goal | Gage Skidmore
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