Reddit co-founder says Meta’s end to third-party fact-checking is ‘very pragmatic’
Reddit‘s co-founder says Meta‘s decision to end third-party fact-checking on its platforms was a “pragmatic” one, characterizing the move as a reversal of an unviable program.
In January, just days before Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president for the second time, Meta announced it would end third-party fact-checking on its platforms, a program often criticized by Trump and conservatives for what they say unfairly targeted right-wing content.
In a series of sweeping policy changes at the media giant, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced he would install a community-based system instead.
“It was a very pragmatic change,” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian told CNBC at the Web Summit in Qatar on Sunday, adding “it is impossible to do fact-checking at scale, let alone in real time, as Facebook was trying to do.”
“In many ways, I think they were just winding back something that was a bad idea from the start because it was untenable,” Ohanian added.
Meta launched its global fact-checking program in 2016 in a bid to tackle misinformation, and has since partnered with fact-checking organizations in more than 100 countries. The rollback will begin in the U.S., according to the company, and will not affect other countries yet.
The Reddit co-founder, who created the “front page of the internet” in 2005, also weighed in on the future of social media. “I think we’ll get to a place where we as users get to choose our algorithms, and because, without a doubt, these platforms, we’re all incentivized to have the best possible algorithm, not because of anything sinister, but because we want to keep people engaged,” he said.
Reddit, which went public in March last year and was valued at $6.4 billion, was one of the first social networking platforms, and began when MySpace still dominated user’s screens. Reddit has struggled with moderation in its own history, eventually banning revenge porn, and cracking down on racism and misogyny in its communities. Today, the platform has over 70 million daily active users, and boasts “community-specific rules” across individual communities, or subreddits.
‘More personalized approach’
In a post about Meta’s new content moderation policies, Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, wrote, “Starting in the US, we are ending our third party fact-checking program and moving to a Community Notes model.”
Kaplan added that Meta would “take a more personalized approach to political content, so that people who want to see more of it in their feeds can.”
Meta did not immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment.
The community notes model is also favored by Elon Musk-owned X, which says it aims to “create a better informed world by empowering people on X to collaboratively add context to potentially misleading posts.”
Kaplan praised X’s success with the model, saying “We’ve seen this approach work on X – where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context, and people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see.”
Kaplan, a prominent Republican who replaced Nick Clegg at Meta, added that “Meta’s platforms are built to be places where people can express themselves freely. That can be messy. On platforms where billions of people can have a voice, all the good, bad and ugly is on display. But that’s free expression.”
After Trump’s inauguration, Zuckerberg joined a number of major American firms in ending programs designed for diversity, equity and inclusion. The Meta boss recently expressed regret over some of the company’s decisions in a letter to Congress, in which he said the Biden Administration had pressured Meta into censoring certain content around Covid-19.
An attendee wearing a Super Mario costume uses a Nintendo Switch 2 game console while playing a video game during the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience at the ExCeL London international exhibition and convention centre in London, Britain, April 11, 2025.
Isabel Infantes | Reuters
Nintendo on Friday announced that retail preorder for its Nintendo Switch 2 gaming system will begin on April 24 starting at $449.99.
Preorders for the hotly anticipated console were initially slated for April 9, but Nintendo delayed the date to assess the impact of the far-reaching, aggressive “reciprocal” tariffs that President Donald Trump announced earlier this month.
Most electronics companies, including Nintendo, manufacture their products in Asia. Nintendo’s Switch 1 consoles were made in China and Vietnam, Reuters reported in 2019. Trump has imposed a 145% tariff rate on China and a 10% rate on Vietnam. The latter is down from 46%, after he instituted a 90-day pause to allow for negotiations.
Nintendo said Friday that the Switch 2 will cost $449.99 in the U.S., which is the same price the company first announced on April 2.
“We apologize for the retail pre-order delay, and hope this reduces some of the uncertainty our consumers may be experiencing,” Nintendo said in a statement. “We thank our customers for their patience, and we share their excitement to experience Nintendo Switch 2 starting June 5, 2025.”
The Nintendo Switch 2 and “Mario Kart World“ bundle will cost $499.99, the digital version “Mario Kart World” will cost $79.99 and the digital version of “Donkey Kong Bananza” will cost $69.99, Nintendo said. All of those prices remain unchanged from the company’s initial announcement.
However, accessories for the Nintendo Switch 2 will “experience price adjustments,” the company said, and other future changes in costs are possible for “any Nintendo product.”
It will cost gamers $10 more to by the dock set, $1 more to buy the controller strap and $5 more to buy most other accessories, for instance.
WATCH: Nintendo has ‘a lot of work to do’ to convince casual users to upgrade to Switch 2: Kantan Games
An employee walks past a quilt displaying Etsy Inc. signage at the company’s headquarters in the Brooklyn.
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Etsy is trying to make it easier for shoppers to purchase products from local merchants and avoid the extra cost of imports as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs raise concerns about soaring prices.
In a post to Etsy’s website on Thursday, CEO Josh Silverman said the company is “surfacing new ways for buyers to discover businesses in their countries” via shopping pages and by featuring local sellers on its website and app.
“While we continue to nurture and enable cross-border trade on Etsy, we understand that people are increasingly interested in shopping domestically,” Silverman said.
Etsy operates an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers with mostly artisanal and handcrafted goods. The site, which had 5.6 million active sellers as of the end of December, competes with e-commerce juggernaut Amazon, as well as newer entrants that have ties to China like Temu, Shein and TikTok Shop.
By highlighting local sellers, Etsy could relieve some shoppers from having to pay higher prices induced by President Trump’s widespread tariffs on trade partners. Trump has imposed tariffs on most foreign countries, with China facing a rate of 145%, and other nations facing 10% rates after he instituted a 90-day pause to allow for negotiations. Trump also signed an executive order that will end the de minimis provision, a loophole for low-value shipments often used by online businesses, on May 2.
Temu and Shein have already announced they plan to raise prices late next week in response to the tariffs. Sellers on Amazon’s third-party marketplace, many of whom source their products from China, have said they’re considering raising prices.
Silverman said Etsy has provided guidance for its sellers to help them “run their businesses with as little disruption as possible” in the wake of tariffs and changes to the de minimis exemption.
Before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs took effect, Silverman said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in late February that he expects Etsy to benefit from the tariffs and de minimis restrictions because it “has much less dependence on products coming in from China.”
“We’re doing whatever work we can do to anticipate and prepare for come what may,” Silverman said at the time. “In general, though, I think Etsy will be more resilient than many of our competitors in these situations.”
Still, American shoppers may face higher prices on Etsy as U.S. businesses that source their products or components from China pass some of those costs on to consumers.
Etsy shares are down 17% this year, slightly more than the Nasdaq.
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