For as often as the phrase “Christ is King” trends on social media, it seems like a growing number of self-professing Christians have forgotten that it was sin — not skin — that kept Jesus on the cross.
Millions of Americans gathered this past Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Apart from that ultimate sign of self-sacrifice, we would still be in bondage to sin and face the penalty for indulging it — spiritual death and eternal separation from God. That’s because, according to the Bible, we are all born in sin and remain spiritually dead unless we turn from our sin and place our hope and trust in Christ.
No argument reveals a smaller mind than the impulse to link sin to skin for ideological gain.
Messages circulating on X often sound wildly different, but many follow the same script. On any given day, you’ll find someone — often claiming to be Christian — warning that a specific group poses a unique threat to the American way of life.
Some wrap their claims in the pseudo-academic language of “race realism” and genetic determinism. Others frame it as cultural criticism. But the message stays the same: Those people over there are the real problem.
Years ago, I noticed this pattern in how some black progressives invoked slavery and Jim Crow to argue that “whiteness” itself is an inherently evil force driving racism.
Today, a growing number of white conservatives fire back with crime statistics, claiming black Americans are inherently violent.
Meanwhile, a rainbow coalition of agitators — including Hispanics and Asians — spends its time urging followers to “notice” Jewish control of everything from pornography to U.S. foreign policy.
Different faces, same poison.
Ethnic and political tribalism has convinced many Americans that moral decay is always someone else’s fault. It’s not our problem. It’s their problem.
They chase any story or video that reinforces their worldview and dismiss anything that challenges it. A white police officer involved in a fatal shooting of a black man becomes proof that policing itself is systemically racist. A black teenager who commits a crime becomes a symbol of supposed racial dysfunction — not an individual but a statistic.
Many in this mindset obsess over IQ scores and genetic theories. But no argument reveals a smaller mind than the impulse to link sin to skin for ideological gain.
Christ’s death on the cross should convict every one of us to examine our own hearts. The moment you start measuring your worth by someone else’s failure, you’re already losing the moral battle. Comparative righteousness is a foolish and dangerous game.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18 illustrates the danger of self-righteousness. Pharisees prided themselves on strict adherence to the law, so it’s no surprise that the one in Jesus’ story thanked God for his supposed moral superiority. He fasted, tithed, and avoided obvious sins. He was especially grateful not to be like the tax collector — a judgment that, on the surface, seemed justified.
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Jesus shocked the crowd with the conclusion: It was the tax collector — not the outwardly religious Pharisee — who went home justified. He drove the point home with a final line that still cuts: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The world would look very different — better, even — if more people, especially Christians, followed the example of the tax collector instead of the Pharisee.
Every person, family, and community carries its own burdens. Certain sins may show up more often in some groups than others, but that only looks like moral deficiency when we stop measuring ourselves against God and start judging others as the standard.
That’s why I advocate an “inside-out” approach to social commentary. I focus first on the issues that are common, pressing, and personal. Telling hard truths is difficult enough. It’s even harder when the messenger comes off as an outsider taking shots rather than someone who cares enough to speak from within.
Conservatives have every right to criticize America’s cultural collapse — but they should think twice before using China’s Xi Jinping to deliver the message. And if even Vivek Ramaswamy can’t offer light criticism without backlash, maybe it’s not just the left that has a problem hearing the truth.
The inside-out approach beats the alternative. It forces us to confront our own flaws instead of obsessing over everyone else’s. The outside-in method puts the sins of others under a microscope, while hiding the mirror that would show our own.
That’s why I don’t understand black pastors in neighborhoods torn apart by gang violence who spend their sermons denouncing “white supremacy” or DEI. Those things may be worth discussing — but they’re not why kids are dying in their streets.
Likewise, a white pastor in Wyoming would do much more good addressing his state’s sky-high suicide rate — often involving firearms — than speculating on how rap music and absent fathers are ruining black teenagers in Chicago.
Nothing’s wrong with offering honest insights about what plagues other communities. Tribalism shouldn’t stop us from grieving or rejoicing with people who don’t look like us. But the problem comes when we frame both vice and virtue in ethnic terms.
The apostle Paul didn’t tailor his warnings about idolatry, greed, lust, or murder based on ethnicity. His message was universal because the human condition is universal.
That’s why Christians must always remember: Jesus died for our sin, not our skin.
Chinese factories are promoting themselves through TIkTok videos and asking American consumers to buy directly from them at a lower cost than retailers.
With President Trump recently raising tariffs on China to 245%, videos have gone viral in recent days of Chinese factories offering products in bulk and/or direct to the consumer from factories that say they supply U.S. retailers.
For example, factories claiming to supply Lululemon and Louis Vuitton have offered products at minimal costs.
As reported by the Independent, one video that garnered 10 million views said it was selling yoga pants from Lululemon for $5 instead of $100, the apparent listed price in the U.S.
Another video reportedly showed a man in a factory who claimed his Louis Vuitton bags can be sold directly to consumers across the world for $50.
Both companies reportedly told the outlet that their products are not finished in China, which raised the question of what "finished" means. Of course, many of these products and factories could be producing counterfeit products, but they also could legitimately be product suppliers that are meant to maximize profits for international retailers.
For Italian products to be labeled "100% Made in Italy" (according the official certification website), a product must be made with "exclusive designs" from Italy, built entirely in Italy, made with Italian semi-finished products, and a have a traceability process.
However, at least some of Louis Vuitton's products do not contain an official seal and simply say "made in Italy."
The Independent noted that it found at least one video that falsely claimed to be a Lululemon supplier. However, a Lululemon spokesperson told the outlet that just 3% or thereabouts of the company's finished goods are manufactured in mainland China.
The specific nature of the remark is indeed for a reason, as the provided list of manufacturing partners on the Lululemon website revealed that manufacturers from "China Mainland" were categorized separately from "Taiwan."
Other locations like Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka appeared many times on the list of partners.
Other widely circulated video included $100 alleged Gucci products sold for just $1.49, while another factory boasted laundry pods being sold at a rate of 20 units for $1.
One auto-parts factory promoted a woman in a grime-covered location around dozens of engines who sang, "Many auto parts in my factory, if you need auto parts you can find me."
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As the case heats up against Karmelo Anthony — the 17-year-old charged with murdering Texas high school star athlete Austin Metcalf earlier this month in connection with the fatal stabbing at a Frisco track meet — something else has been playing out apart from the legal and investigative aspects.
There's been no shortage of beliefs expressed on social media concerning how the case should conclude. Indeed, many believe Anthony should go to prison for a very long time. Prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty or life without parole for juveniles, however, due to a 2005 Supreme Court ruling, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis told WFAA-TV.
'Y’all said 17-yr-old Kyle Rittenhouse was justified in killing two people with an AR-15 because he felt threatened. 17-yr-old Karmelo Anthony was defending himself when he killed Austin Metcalf with a knife, and y’all think he deserves to go to prison. I wonder whyTE.'
But others on social media are defending Anthony, saying he stabbed Metcalf in self-defense and should be freed. Indeed, a judge on Monday granted Anthony house arrest and reduced his bond from $1 million to $250,000. Also as of Monday, the GiveSendGo fundraising page for Anthony eclipsed $415,000 after topping $250,000 early last week.
Whether or not Anthony's release from jail is a first step toward a not-guilty verdict remains to be seen, but there is a growing number of folks who would seem to love nothing better.
One X user — in a post that has attracted 1.2 million views — predicted that "Karmelo Anthony will be a free young man soon." The user based the prediction on a now-apparently deleted TikTok video included in the post from an individual who claimed that a Texas male recently was given just 30 days in jail and 10 years probation after fatally stabbing a friend amid mutual combat.
The reason for the seemingly lenient sentence, according to the video creator, is because in Texas, if you're legally allowed to be in a given place, you can use deadly force to protect yourself from serious bodily injury — and that Anthony was legally allowed to be at the track meet.
"Maybe we should train people to not put their hands on people," the video creator also said, adding "control your urges; control this neanderthal, territorial bulls**t."
Another X user — in a post that has attracted over 773,000 views — pointed out a video by a white male who defends Anthony and supports his innocence. And what did the X user say about Anthony's white supporter? "See, this cracka gets it. Karmelo Anthony is innocent — free him!"
An X post with over 683,000 views insists that Anthony "is an exceptional, upstanding, suburban, young teen boy. He is an honor roll student, works an honest job, and he's a hero! If we allow them to paint this teenage boy as some Thug or reckless 'YN,' we failed, and no Black boy in America is safe!"
A post in defense of Anthony — containing numerous unproven allegations — managed to attract nearly 330,000 views, and another X user — in a post that has pulled in 329,000 views — wrote that "Kyle Rittenhouse can be 17 with an AR-15, Karmelo Anthony CAN'T be 17 with a knife. Make it make sense."
Another X poster who pulled in nearly 288,000 views claimed that students who were at the fatal stabbing said Metcalf "beat up" Anthony "at a party a week prior over a girl" — despite witnesses telling police that Anthony and Metcalf, in fact, did not know each other.
Then, there are those who have called Anthony an "American hero" (123,000 views) and even claimed an image of an infant wearing KKK attire is Metcalf's "baby photo" (84,000 views).
That's already a lot of claims reaching a lot of eyes — and well before those who actually matter in the case bring evidence and testimony.
But the latter posts are nothing compared to the ones coming up. The following is a breakdown of five of the most viral social media takes defending Anthony:
Perhaps the most-viewed and controversial reaction in support of Anthony is a 51-second viral video showing a female — with the words "Free Karmelo" superimposed over her forehead — declaring that Metcalf "got exactly what he deserved — point blank, period."
The following is the entirety of her spoken statement:
Y'all not gonna make me believe or feel any kind of sympathy for Austin Metcalf at all. He put his hands on that young man when he should've kept them hands to himself. When the young man told him, 'Touch me and see, you [better] not touch me,' that meant that 'I don't want you in my space, I don't want you touching me.' Rosa Park[s] days is [sic] over. You cannot think that can move somebody out of a seat that you don't own and think that it's gonna be OK. And you can't determine how I'm gonna retaliate on you when [you] put your hands on me in an aggressive manner. Austin Metcalf got exactly what he deserved — point blank, period. It's time out for feelin' sorry for somebody['s] feelings or feelin' emotional about somebody['s] feelings. Austin Metcalf should've kept his damn hands to himself — point blank, period.
The identity of the female in the video is not clear, but the clip can be found in numerous spots on social media. The X post from End Wokeness featuring the video has received 5.2 million views since April 8. Some responses to her take include the following:
Not all of the commenters pushed back against the female in the video, however. One person posted the following reaction: "I wouldn’t say he got what he deserved, but a very valuable lesson was learned for others. For every action, there’s a reaction. 'Touch me and see what happens.' He f**ked around and found out."
Another viral video featuring another unidentified female defending Anthony is rather chilling. She smiles and speaks softly as she warns viewers, "Keep your motherf**king hands to yourself" — all while children are heard playing in the background.
The following is the entirety of her unsettling spoken statement:
Keep your hands to yourself ... keep your motherf**king hands to yourself. Yeah. Why should I have to tell you over and over again to f**k around and find out? ... Keep your motherf**king hands to yourself. 'Why he brought a knife to the school? ... Oh, he was lookin' to go there to murder.' Y'all motherf**kers trying to act like y'all purposely tryin' to misunderstand the situation when you see it clear as day like we all do. Hmm. He ain't went there to stab no whole school up. He ain't went there to stab no whole track meet up — like y'all go there to shoot a whole school up. Yeah, he had [a knife] for protection; anything can happen — just like anything happened that day! That's why he had it. It tells you right there. Mmm hmm. Yeah. I can't even stroll good without hearing that sound. Y'all know the sound. When you're black, you're never really lonely. 'Cuz there's always a person all up in your business. Yeah. Mmm hmm. Now let's ask the realest question of 'em all: Why that boy feel entitled to go over there and put his hands on somebody else? Hmm? Why? If the parents was there like they claimin' to be, and the mom that's on TV [crying] her eyes out, why didn't she step up and get up and say, 'Hey baby, you can't be over here. You should find your own original tent.' I've ran track. They've been doing this for the longest, the same way. Kids are spread out everywhere. I have a niece that does it. Mmm hmm. Keep your hands to yourself. When I was in my yard the other day minding my business [someone asked] why me and my baby in the sun in our own yard. Like I told her, 'I ain't answerin' no questions. If you step in this yard, you'll be the next bitch to find out.'
The video is part of an April 8 X post from Unlimited L's, and it has received 4.8 million views so far. Here are some responses to the video:
With 4.3 million views so far is an April 4 pro-Anthony reaction from Tariq Nasheed, who has more than 377,000 followers on X. It reads: "If Kyle Rittenhouse was justified in using lethal self-defense... And Daniel Penny was justified in using lethal self-defense.... Then Karmelo Anthony was justified in using self-defense against alleged bullies who instigated an altercation, correct?"
Another April 4 take from Nasheed has garnered 2.2 million views and reads as follows: "A suspected white supremacist named Austin Metcalf ... allegedly demanded honor student Karmelo Anthony give up his seat — like it was the Jim Crow era. Karmelo defended himself from the alleged threat. The Daniel Penny case set this precedent."
One commenter responded by saying, "You’re a disgusting human, Tariq Nasheed. Austin Metcalf was just m*rdered by a thug, and you falsely accuse Metcalf of being a 'white supremacist' and the aggressor. Shame on you. You need to be sued for defamation." Nasheed's response — which was ratioed fairly decisively — reads as follows: "I didn’t say he was a white supremacist. There are many people who SUSPECTS [sic] him of being one. That’s why I said SUSPECTED."
Nasheed has posted or reposted more than 20 reactions focusing on the Anthony-Metcalf situation. He also has a YouTube channel called "Tariq Radio" and links to a website highlighting "Foundational Black Americans," which defines them as "proud descendants of the Black men and women who endured and survived one of the greatest atrocities in human history—American slavery."
Bishop Talbert Swan — who has been covered more than a few times by Blaze News over the years — offered the following April 6 reaction to the Anthony-Metcalf controversy: "Y’all said 17-yr-old Kyle Rittenhouse was justified in killing two people with an AR-15 because he felt threatened. 17-yr-old Karmelo Anthony was defending himself when he killed Austin Metcalf with a knife, and y’all think he deserves to go to prison. I wonder whyTE."
Swan has just over 216,000 X followers, and his above X post attracted 2.1 million views. As you can imagine, Swan's racially charged take was met with just a bit of hostility:
Swan posted a separate but similar April 6 X reaction, which has drawn 653,000 views: "White folks out here asking why Karmelo Anthony had a knife but had no problem with 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse having an AR-15 that he wasn’t licensed to carry."
Another video from yet another unidentified female asserts that "racist people" assume Anthony "must not have had his father in his life, and his father must be a deadbeat, no-good person to raise this thug, and that he must be livin' in the hood and not livin' good." The female on the video is surrounded by what she says are photos of Anthony's "very middle, upper-class family" that include "his father, his mother, and his siblings"; she adds that the family has been together "for over 17 years."
"Interesting," she continues. "Because I think a lot of racist people were saying that [Anthony] didn't come from a loving family, and that his father was probably in prison or a loser and had abandoned him when he was young because of the stereotypes that you guys hear about black people — 'the black father must not have been in the home.' Well, it seems like his father loves him very much, and it seems like he was raised a good, young man — whether you guys like it or not. But you know who came from a broken home? The Metcalf boys came from a broken home because their parents aren't together. ... I wonder how coming from a home where the parents aren't together ... would have affected the twins? Hmm. I wonder." A clip of Anthony practicing with his football team ends the video.
The female's video appears in a post from a different X user who prefaces the clip by saying, "Karmelo was raised in a stable two-parent home, unlike the Metcalf twins, who came from a broken household. Given the circumstances, the stabbing was clearly an act of self-defense — and self-defense is not a crime." The post has received 1.5 million views.
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Tim Pool, the host of the wildly popular “TimCast” on YouTube, boasting over 4 million subscribers and 3 billion views on his three channels, exposed how the Chinese Communist Party pays off influencers to push its narrative, such as attacking the Falun Gong and Shen Yun.
During an episode of his show, Pool shared how the CCP unsuccessfully tried to recruit him — an explosive revelation that essentially went under the radar.
Every one of the 10 New York Times articles attacking Shen Yun has been artificially promoted by CCP bots.
Pool revealed that the CCP has a task force devoted to attacking the Falun Gong.
The Falun Gong people were handing out flyers and stuff, and it’s funny because China started hiring YouTubers. They offered — I’m pretty sure I got offered this at one point — they said they’d give me $200 to post a video to my YouTube channel.
It was a video of a white dude complaining about this group. And I’m thinking, "I’m not posting this to my channel." But a lot of people were like, "Two hundred bucks, I’m gonna take it."
Joshua Philipp, the host of “Crossroads,” had a similar story about how the CCP boosted the New York Times’ recent hit pieces on Shen Yun.
Since August 2024, the New York Times has ramped up attacks on Shen Yun Performing Arts, a renowned organization dedicated to reviving traditional Chinese culture before the Chinese Communist Party regime took over, uprooting traditional culture and violently silencing dissent. The frequency of the hit pieces borders on an obsession — publishing 10 hit pieces on the topic within the past six months alone.
These pieces, authored by the so-called investigative reporters Nicole Hong and Michael Rothfeld, allege mistreatment of performers and financial improprieties within Shen Yun. Over 60% of Hong’s articles since August have focused solely on discrediting Shen Yun. Performers quoted in these articles have since spoken out against the Times’ shoddy reporting, calling it misleading and inaccurate.
Interestingly, Hong’s father is a visiting professor at CCP-affiliated Zhejiang University and Jiangxi Normal University in China. The former is a public university affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education, while the latter is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the communist Jiangxi Provincial Government.
It would be shocking if they didn’t have any pro-CCP bias.
Epoch Times investigative reporter Joshua Philipp explains:
A network of thousands of CCP-linked accounts — fake accounts, some of [which] may be operated by Chinese spies on the internet, were promoting the New York Times. The New York Times was writing hit pieces on Shen Yuan Performing Arts, which the CCP is targeting. As a result, Shen Yun got targeted with bomb threats and death threats, but the New York Times is not covering that. Instead, they're using these hit pieces targeting Shen Yun doing the exact thing the CCP wants, and then the Chinese Communist Party-linked accounts are promoting the New York Times articles. Thousands of these fake accounts tied to the CCP. Some of them have now been removed by X. This is confirmed, our investigation has shown.
— (@)
According to the report that Phillip is referring to, over the past month, X has removed thousands of accounts suspected of being linked to the CCP. These accounts primarily promoted articles from the New York Times critical of Shen Yun, which showcases traditional Chinese culture and exposes CCP human rights abuses. One Chinese-language article attacking Shen Yun became the most shared New York Times piece on X in over a year, amplified by these banned fake accounts.
Cybersecurity experts said the activity resembled a nation-state automated bot attack. X has confirmed it removes millions of accounts weekly for spam and manipulation violations, including these. CCP bots artificially promoted every one of the 10 Times articles attacking Shen Yun.
The CCP’s motivation is Shen Yun’s connection to Falun Gong, a group it has sought to “eradicate” since 1999 to maintain state atheism. China has detained Falun Gong practitioners for “re-education through labor,” tortured 2,000 to death as of 2009, and killed 65,000 to harvest their organs from 2000 to 2008 alone.
Whistleblowers with ties to CCP security confirmed a 2022 campaign launched by Xi Jinping to discredit Falun Gong overseas, using Western media and social media platforms like X. The New York Times articles align with this effort.
Data analysis revealed that 80% of accounts sharing these articles had zero followers, indicating bot activity. Other signs of inauthenticity included repetitive posts across accounts and crude anti-Falun Gong content mirroring CCP propaganda. Some accounts, active since 2019, shifted to exclusively anti-Falun Gong posts over time, often using stolen or AI-generated profile images.
New bot accounts continue to emerge, leveraging AI to create believable profiles and amplify content efficiently. Even accounts with over 10,000 followers showed inauthentic behavior, often hijacked, purchased, or repurposed from older, dormant profiles. This operation reflects a bold escalation, with the CCP increasingly operating openly rather than in the shadows, raising significant concerns about foreign influence on American platforms.
I will spare you the argument against smartphones and go directly to the part where you redesign your life and your engagement with tech by switching to a dumbphone.
You’re going to come to a place and time when, as with the redeemed crackhead, the Spirit compels you to turn from your addiction and drop the pipe and the rock for good because all the myriad justifications have worn thin and have shown themselves to be empty.
There are innumerable manuals, studies, and paths related to dropping addiction. Or, if you prefer a gentler euphemism, building new habits.
Or you won’t — and, in the best-case scenario, your life will be characterized by an internal war you wage against your better self as directed by a set of parasitic algorithms.
So here's a list of suggestions about how to get into the dumbphone.
If you want to go full cabin-in-the-woods, there are ways and means. Good luck out there, and meet me at the tree line. However, if you decide that staying in phone (voice and text) contact with the world of men is necessary or wise, then you’re likely looking at what we lovingly refer to as the dumbphone. We are stepping back into 2004.
We all know the Nokia stands out. (No one is sponsoring this article.) They are cheap and rugged, and the plans are flexible. Get one.
Employers, loved ones, and almost everyone else expect you to have a phone and everything that comes with it. Cut them off at the proverbial pass by building in some alternatives to those few features of the phone that are (sort of) useful.
Get a small flashlight. Buy a dumbphone with a half-decent camera.
Pick up an atlas or "Thomas Guide." If that’s not enough, perhaps it is worthwhile to retain or install some equivalent navigational aid or app in your vehicle.
Advice: Once the dopamine circuits in your brain have been stabilized, you can go back and refine your replacements. Escape need not be perfect. You’re going to find yourself on the outside; the world is now weird. Just keep refining your alternative methods.
As you design your way out of the smartphone trap, what’s frustrating is that almost no one is going to sympathize or know how to help. You’re on your own.
It’s quite a world where you need to justify your choice not to participate in something so strongly correlated with depression, dissatisfaction, isolation, and lifestyle choices generally at odds with those proven over huge stretches of time. (You don’t need the studies if you lived through 2008 ... or 2016 ... or 2020 ... or ...)
Pick a long weekend or vacation to make the initial change. This at least gives you some leeway to flop around and bemoan flagging levels of dopamine and do the interior work of shoring yourself up to carry through the operation.
As with the above, it’s wise to tell your loved ones — especially your spouse — that your communications situation is changing. There are mixed reports regarding the value of “accountability partners” (individuals to whom you report your progress in some difficult personal change), but again, if you’re going all in, why not throw everything you’ve got at it? No doubt, husband and wife picking up the dumbphone together is only sensible.
It is always best to keep that "Thomas Guide," those comforting snacks, and the other considerations mentioned above close to hand and mind, but there are other problems to address, too. For example, there are decisions to be made about whether to keep sundry smartphone apps and resources and, if so, which ones.
The big question for many potential dumbphone users will be about social media use. As it stands, the vast majority of users are stuck to their phones for their X or Instagram fix. Both of these and probably many similar platforms are available in a desktop version. Getting used to the differences in the interfaces (assuming you’re keeping some tether to them at all) is a worthwhile preparatory step.
The situation extends, of course, to crypto wallets and apps and any other phone-based software you care to hold on to — it may be easier to let go of the smartphone if much of its supposed utility can simply be stored on a laptop or a desktop.
There are innumerable manuals, studies, and paths related to dropping addiction. Or, if you prefer a gentler euphemism, building new habits. The issue, of course, is that the modern mind, when pressed, excels at justification.
The truth of our predicament is likely that the smartphone is a symptom of a much deeper, more subtle malaise. Will reverting to a dumbphone make it feel worse? In the short term, it’s quite common in situations like these for our lives to feel even emptier without whatever was sustaining the illusion of having a genuine experience of being.
For many of us, we’ve already run the gamut of self-improvement and hacks. Dropping the phone is a choice near the tail end of that progression. It’s easy to play the aforementioned game of justification with respect to order of tasks. But it may also be necessary to address other issues before taking up the path of the dumbphone ...
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, announced on Friday that it is officially ending its "fact-checking" program in the United States.
Joel Kaplan, the company's chief global affairs officer, stated that starting Monday, it will terminate the program for good and switch to a community notes system, similar to Elon Musk's X.
'We don't expect this process to be perfect, and we'll continue to improve as we learn.'
Kaplan declared, "By Monday afternoon, our fact-checking program in the US will be officially over."
"That means no new fact checks and no fact checkers," he continued. "We announced in January we'd be winding down the program & removing penalties. In place of fact checks, the first Community Notes will start appearing gradually across Facebook, Threads & Instagram, with no penalties attached."
A Meta spokesperson told Fox Business that community notes are "a better approach that will be less biased and more scalable."
The representative noted that the company expects "more people with more perspectives adding context to more types of content."
"The community decides what notes get written and rated — not Meta," the spokesperson continued. "That said, this is a brand-new product that we're still testing and building. We don't expect this process to be perfect, and we'll continue to improve as we learn."
Meta explained that as part of the change, no social media users should have strikes against their account by Monday. Since January, anyone who has been so-called "fact-checked" will reportedly not face any account penalties or demotions.
The company's website explains that the changes will be rolled out to the U.S., improved over the year, and then implemented in other countries.
Meta began testing its new community notes feature in mid-March, allowing some social media users to write and rate notes across its platforms.
"Around 200,000 potential contributors in the U.S. have signed up so far across all three apps, and the wait list remains open for those who wish to take part in the program. But notes won't initially appear on content. We will start by gradually and randomly admitting people off of the wait list and will take time to test the writing and rating system before any notes are published publicly," the company stated.
The rating system for determining whether a community note is added to a post "isn't majority rules," Meta added.
"No matter how many contributors agree on a note, it won't be published unless people who normally disagree decide that it provides helpful context," it said.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the forthcoming changes in January when he released a video stating that the company was returning to its "roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms."
"More specifically, here's what we're going to do. First, we're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the U.S.," he said, citing the 2024 presidential election as a contributing influence in the decision.
"The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech," Zuckerberg added.
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MAGA influencer Emily Wilson, under the username “emilysavesamerica,” went viral on X last week when she incited a “MAGA Civil War” with a rant attacking right-wing women for “promoting tradwife bullsh-t.” And while her comments were not entirely wrong — posting about sourdough on social media is indeed “cringe” — her claim that “guys want […]
The post leaves little room for interpretation. It sure looks like a sitting U.S. congressman fired shots into Russia, ratcheting up tensions.
No matter what name it goes by, the Global Engagement Center is dead. It will not return.
The federal government incubated a host of online censorship programs, several of which are still operating under leftist groups.
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