Fact-checking has emerged as one of the most prominent policy tools to combat the spread of misinformation, but critics have argued that it infringes upon freedom of expression and that it has no meaningful impact on the circulation of misinformation. This column provides evidence from the field that fact-checking significantly reduces engagement with posts on Facebook rated as false and also decreases users' subsequent activity. The findings suggest that the impact of fact-checking primarily results not from Facebook’s actions to hide or demote content, but rather from users’ behavioural responses, challenging the idea that it suppresses free speech.
It’s mostly about Facebook, probably because Twitter already ditched anything other than raw, unfettered Musk-directed propaganda right after he bought it, and also because Facebook ended their fact checking immediately after Trump won, as a visible bending of the knee and kissing of the ring.
As far as I know, there are no fact checking capabilities in any Lemmy setup, which could be useful, so the study is not pointless even in a federated context