LatamChequea urges Meta to maintain independent fact-checking

LatamChequea, a network representing 47 fact-checkers in Latin America, has called on Meta to ensure that its Community Notes system does not replace independent third-party verification. The group warns that Community Notes may not be sufficient in contexts characterized by high levels of disinformation.

Meta recently announced a testing phase for Community Notes in Spanish for the Latin American market. This move follows an announcement by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in January 2025 regarding the end of the independent fact-checking program in the United States, where it was replaced by the user-driven Community Notes system.

The current independent verification program, active since 2016, involves organizations certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). These organizations analyze potentially misleading posts and provide ratings, which Meta then uses to reduce content visibility or add context. LatamChequea argues that these professional efforts should complement, rather than be substituted by, the voluntary user-contributed notes.