Meta announced in a blog post that it will begin testing Community Notes soon, allowing people who signed up to add more context to posts across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. The Community Notes feature is like the one present on X, formerly Twitter, but it’ll operate a little differently.
The social media company announced Community Notes back in January as a replacement for the third-party fact-checking program that has been in place since 2016, saying it would rely on users across all three platforms to flag misinformation on posts. However, the Community Notes feature will be tested in the United States and expand elsewhere overtime.
Here’s everything you need to know about Meta’s Community Notes test.
When will testing start?
Meta will start testing the Community Notes feature on March 18. So far, around 200,000 users across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads have signed up to be on the waitlist to be a Community Notes contributor in the two months since the feature was announced. At the beginning of the test, the company will gradually admit users off the waitlist at random.
To sign up to be a Community Notes contributor, you need to be 18 or older, have an account that is over six months old and in good standing, meaning your account hasn’t been reported or suspended for any misconduct. You also need to reside in the U.S. in order to participate in the test.
How will Community Notes work on Meta?
The Community Notes system on Meta is a little similar to X, as the company is adopting its broad approach and applying its open-source algorithm to its rating system. Where it differs is, according to Meta, “notes won’t be published unless contributors with a range of viewpoints broadly agree on them.” In other words, if people who normally disagree on a topic decides that a note provides helpful context, it will be posted.
Every note you write will have a 500-character limit, and you need to include a link to back it up, as the source you link to provides more context to the post that is deemed confusing or misleading, even harmful. Once you submit your Community Notes, your name won’t be attached to the notes. The context you add to posts matters more than who wrote the notes when it comes to rating them. However, you need to use language that is free of bias and easy for others to understand.
The idea behind Community Notes is to provide some form of discourse between people with different perspectives, allowing them to come to an agreement on different topics the posts they’re providing notes for are based on, especially topics that are considered political. Meta says it helps to safeguard against bias and organized campaigns that influence the speech of the notes that get published.
Once testing for Community Notes is completed, Meta will roll out the feature across the United States, although the date is yet to be announced. The feature will be available in other countries at a later date, and the third-party fact-checking program will remain in those regions in the meantime.
