• Meta plans to end fact-checking partnerships in the US in March and continue payments through August.
• Meta cited “changing perceptions of free expression” as the reason for her decision.
• Meta’s global fact-checking support remains, including an IFCN Business Continuity Fund.

According to a conversation between Meta and International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) Director Angie Holan, Meta’s fact-checking partnerships in the US will officially end in March and payments to partners will continue until August.

Details of the exchange were announced during a private IFCN meeting attended by 151 members. Audio of this was obtained by Business Insider. These details have not yet been disclosed.

Meta shared details of the program’s end with IFCN, saying the company’s new approach was driven by “changing perceptions of free expression” and a desire to “enable more free expression” just 45 minutes before the company published a blog post about it , decision was written by Joel Kaplan, Meta’s new public policy director, who was an adviser to George W. Bush and has long-standing ties to the Republican Party.

Severance pay and a support fund for fact-checkers

Contracts with all ten fact-checking organizations in the US end in March, with payments continuing through August. Organizations that have not signed contracts for 2025 have been offered the opportunity to participate in a severance program.

Kaplan’s post announced that Meta would be replacing its fact-checking partnerships with X-style Community Notes – but the Meta exec told Holan that the rollout of Community Notes is expected to take some time.

They stated that the system will be built and implemented during 2025. When asked whether the company plans to expand Community Notes globally, Meta gave a noncommittal answer, saying it will initially monitor the program’s impact in the United States and consider the regulatory landscape in other countries.

The conditions for participation in the program remain unclear.

When Holan pressed Meta on how the IFCN should manage the divide between U.S. changes and the status of global programs, Meta’s response was vague, advising the IFCN to “remain present to both constituencies.”

Holan expressed his disappointment during the conversation, describing Meta’s fact-checking program as one that has “positively impacted an entire fact-checking ecosystem,” emphasizing that the work is never about censorship.

“This seems to be politics,” she told the meta executive, who declined to confirm or deny political motivations, saying only that he was “personally proud” of the program’s legacy.

Meta’s support for other IFCN initiatives remains unchanged. This includes IFCN’s new Business Continuity Fund, which is designed to provide temporary financial support to fact-checking organizations affected by natural disasters, civil unrest, military conflict or government repression.

The aim of the fund is to help affected organizations resume normal operations as quickly as possible and ensure the safety and well-being of their team members. Meta also confirmed that a separate WhatsApp-related grant program would continue.

However, when asked whether Meta would continue to sponsor Global Fact, IFCN’s flagship annual conference, the executive director did not have a definitive answer and suggested that IFCN should “remain in conversation on the issue.”

Despite the end of its U.S. fact-checking program, the executive branch left the door open for further communication with IFCN, saying Meta was “open to continuing to talk” about how to support public information efforts.

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