Technology, AI & Cyber
Meta urged to keep fact-checking over Community Notes
Meta's Oversight Board has asked the company not to replace professional fact-checking with Community Notes as Meta tests the crowdsourced system in Latin America.
Meta announced Wednesday that it had begun testing Community Notes in 16 Spanish-speaking countries in the region: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The company said it hoped Community Notes would become the standard way it adds context to misleading posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, ending the need for its fact-checking program with partner organisations. Meta gave no timeline for that transition.
The Oversight Board, a quasi-independent body funded by Meta to review moderation decisions, said Community Notes are not an adequate replacement for fact-checking because the notes often rely on fact-checking themselves.
“Community notes could contribute to real-world harms that Meta has a responsibility to avoid or remedy,” the board said in a statement dated Thursday. It urged Meta not to treat the notes as a direct replacement for fact-checking and to use tools that protect free expression while addressing potential harms.
The board previously warned that a global rollout of Community Notes risked human rights harms in politically polarised countries and during tense elections. The published story also noted warnings from social media and disinformation experts that replacing professional fact-checking could make false information spread faster in Latin America, and that regional fact-checking consortium LatamChequea has asked Meta to rethink the shift.
Update
Meta's Oversight Board said Community Notes are not an adequate replacement for fact-checking because the notes often rely on fact-checking.
The board warned that Community Notes could contribute to real-world harms that Meta has a responsibility to avoid or remedy.
Meta's test covers 16 Spanish-speaking Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Source note: AFP news report published on 12 September 2026 at 08:21:36 UTC.
Update
The Oversight Board asked Meta not to replace fact-checking with Community Notes.
Source note: AFP news report published on 12 September 2026 at 07:23:08 UTC.
Update
Experts warned that replacing professional fact-checking with Community Notes could make misinformation spread faster in Latin America.
Carlos Rodriguez said users may not apply the methodical and journalistic standards of professional fact-checkers.
Ramon Salaverria warned that consensus-based moderation can create risks during polarization and disinformation.
Ivan Paganotti linked Brazil's exclusion from the trial to its tougher regulation of digital platforms.
Experts raised concerns that generative AI will make content verification harder.
Rafael Rubio said Meta and X moving away from verification could encourage other platforms to do the same.
Source note: AFP news report published on 10 September 2026 at 16:59:23 UTC.
Update
A Latin America fact-checking network asked Meta not to replace fact-checking with Community Notes.
Source note: AFP news report published on 10 September 2026 at 16:34:50 UTC.
Update
Meta said users in the 16 countries can sign up as contributors from Wednesday, while no notes will be public during the test.
Meta said its US Community Notes program has more than 1.4 million contributors who have produced more than 50,000 posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 September 2026 at 15:58:28 UTC.
Update
Users in the 16 countries can sign up as contributors from Tuesday, but Meta said notes will not be publicly visible during the test.
Meta said independent fact-checking will continue unchanged during the test and gave no timeline for replacing it.
The test covers Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Brazil was not included in the Latin America test.
Meta's Oversight Board warned in March that Community Notes were not an adequate replacement for professional fact-checking outside the United States.
AFP's global news director said fact-checking and Community Notes should not be treated as alternatives.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 September 2026 at 15:08:24 UTC.
Update
Angie Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network, said she was deeply concerned by Meta's decision to test Community Notes in 16 Latin American countries.
Holan said Community Notes alone is not adequate to reduce the impact of harmful falsehoods on social media platforms.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 September 2026 at 14:34:16 UTC.
Update
Meta said testing had begun in 16 Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.
The testing is described as a step toward replacing Meta's professional fact-checking program with partner organizations across the region.
The crowdsourced system is modeled on the one used by Elon Musk's X.
Meta ended its professional fact-checking program in the United States last year.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 September 2026 at 14:22:35 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Meta has not said when it plans to make Community Notes the standard system in Latin America.
Source
AFP news report published on .