Meta Platforms revealed plans to start testing a crowd-sourced fact checking model on 18 March in the US across Facebook, Threads and Instagram, after ending its third-party fact checking programme in January.

The company’s community notes content moderation tool will use an open-source algorithm from Elon Musk-owned X to allow users to flag and rate false or misleading information across its social media sites.

X relies on members to add context on posts which may be misleading or incorrect, a model Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg embraced to replace third-party fact checkers.

The decision to ditch the fact checkers is another example of Meta Platforms aligning its social media sites and board of directors with President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Meta Platforms’ community notes will be limited to 500 characters and require a link to support them.

The notes will initially cover English, Chinese, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Portuguese languages.

Meta Platforms stated it will add more languages over time.

Contributors must over 18-years old, have an account which is more than six months old “and in good standing, and either have a verified phone number or be enrolled in two-factor authentication” Meta Platforms stated in a blog.

Meta Platforms expects community notes to be less biased than the third-party fact checking programme and to operate at a large scale when fully up and running.

“Notes will provide extra context, but they won’t impact who can see the content or how widely it can be shared.”

Around 200,000 US users have signed on to potentially become community notes contributors.

Contributors will not be able to submit notes on advertisements but “almost any other forms of content, including posts by Meta, our executives, politicians and other public figures” are covered.

When community notes go live, third-party fact check labels will no longer appear in the US.

Meta Platforms explained its ultimately intends to roll out community notes globally. Until then, the third-party fact checking programme will remain in place outside of the US.