Meta to begin testing new 'community notes' feature

(NewsNation) — Meta has announced that it will start testing a "community notes" feature across its platforms on March 18.

The announcement comes after Meta ended a third-party fact-checking program in January. At the time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the fact-checkers had become "politically biased" and that the company would "restore free expression."

The community notes feature is similar to one used on the social media platform X, in which users can add context to posts.

In a statement, Meta said the feature will allow users to add context to anything except advertisements. The notes will have a limit of 500 characters, and users must provide a link to support the note.

Meta said the notes would not be published unless a variety of contributors with different viewpoints agree on them in an effort to safeguard against bias.

Testing for the feature will only be available in the United States, but Meta says it hopes for a worldwide rollout in the near future.