Australians are being warned they could be exposed to a tsunami of misinformation with Meta's plans to abandon independent fact-checking services.
The social media giant's decision to end its third-party fact-checking services on Facebook and Instagram in the US has sparked concerns from Australian politicians and the media union over potential impacts on local institutions.
Fact-checking and site moderation have been crucial for social media accountability, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance federal media president Karen Percy said.
She warned to expect "a tsunami" of unchecked and unverified information.
"The news Meta will no longer fund such checks and balances is alarming and irresponsible," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"If (Meta chief executive) Mark Zuckerberg’s plan is allowed to go ahead, it will make the jobs of legitimate news providers all the harder and further undermine what is left of Australia’s media industry.
"The social media companies must uphold, not undermine, democratic principles and values."
The federal government has attempted to mitigate misinformation and disinformation by investing in news services such as the Australian Associated Press (AAP) - which runs a fact-checking service - and public broadcasters ABC and SBS, and encouraging Australians to get their news from trusted sources.
But misinformation has only continued to grow as a federal election looms, breeding worries about Meta's latest move.
"It's very concerning," Treasurer Jim Chalmers told ABC on Thursday.
"Misinformation and disinformation is very dangerous; we've seen it explode in the last few years and it's a very damaging development for our democracy."
The government has previously attempted to crack down on the issue with misinformation legislation that would have given the communications watchdog powers to regulate content on digital platforms and put social media companies on notice.
However, the bill fell by the wayside at the end of 2024 due to free speech concerns and criticism it would not adequately address the spread of deliberate lies.
Meta's fact-checking program in the US will be replaced by a model used by X in which users add context or information to posts they deem misleading.
The social media company's contract with AAP FactCheck has not yet been impacted by the US decision and the service said its work will continue in 2025.
“Independent fact-checkers are a vital safeguard against the spread of harmful misinformation and disinformation that threatens to undermine free democratic debate in Australia and aims to manipulate public opinion," chief executive Lisa Davies said.
Meta has claimed fact-checkers are prone to bias and "a program intended to inform too often became a tool to censor".
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Meta decision will create a trolling and misinformation "free-for-all" and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese argues tech companies "have a social responsibility" to the Australian public.
Stephen Scheeler, former Facebook chief executive for Australia and New Zealand, said the move was "a step backwards for social media overall" but noted local sentiment towards fact-checking differed from the US perspective, due in part to the re-election of Donald Trump.
"The political winds have now changed," he told the ABC.
"The idea of having third parties moderate that content is not fashionable in Washington, it's not fashionable with Donald Trump.
"Mark Zuckerberg wants to get back in Donald Trump's good books."
It is not yet clear when Meta's changes will roll out and there are concerns they could impact the upcoming federal election.
But Australia's relatively short election cycles could dampen the impact of potentially harmful information.
"The less time misinformation has to flow, the less impact it can have," Mr Scheeler said.
