Young Campaign Consumers: How Generation Z Consumes News and Acquires Current Affairs Knowledge
Matthias Van Campenhout
Political Science, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Margot Lissens, Babette Hermans
Communication Science, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium #ica25

Read the full piece (in Dutch) that I wrote with @catowaeterloos.bsky.social and @michaelopgenhaffen.bsky.social here: www.knack.be/nieuws/werel...

While these changes are only applicable to the US for now, many fact-checkers around the world will feel the consequences. And though the practicalities are damaging itself for public safety, the narrative that the change was wrapped in carries even more danger with it.

By calling the fact-checkers “politically biased” he reinforces and normalises a (mostly right-wing) narrative that soon-to-be president Trump has proclaimed for some time. With the inauguration in sight, this announcement seems to be a clear knee-fall for the new president.

Especially this last point is one that Zuckerberg repeatedly makes. Not only will many fact-checkers in the US lose important funding, but with taking away their jobs, he simultaneously stripped them from their credibility.

Zuckerberg equates fact-checking to content moderation, which is incorrect. While content moderation is focused on removing harmful opinions and content, fact-checks only flag content that is false. Equating it to the former is a harmful dialogue that frames fact-checking as a danger to free speech.