Meta tests Community Notes in Latin America, alarming fact checkers

Meta has started testing Community Notes, its crowd-sourced fact-checking feature, in 16 Latin American countries, more than a year after launching the program in the United States and cutting ties with US fact-checking partners. The initial test covers Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The company is onboarding contributors who, once approved, will be able to add context notes to posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. During this testing phase, the notes won't be visible to users, and Meta says there are currently no changes to its third-party fact-checking arrangements. However, in a blog post originally published in Spanish, Meta indicated that if the tool proves successful, it intends to fully launch Community Notes and gradually transition away from third-party fact checking in the region.

Concerns from fact-checking groups

The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) said it was "deeply concerned," arguing that Community Notes alone is not sufficient to curb harmful misinformation. The organization pointed out that several of the countries included in the test — such as Nicaragua, which has abolished elections and practices arbitrary detention of political dissidents, as well as El Salvador and Ecuador, both known for organized disinformation networks, and Venezuela, which remains politically unstable — match exactly the risk factors Meta's own Oversight Board previously warned about.

The Oversight Board itself urged Meta not to treat Community Notes as a direct substitute for fact checking, but rather to use every available tool to fight misinformation. Earlier this year, the board issued a detailed policy opinion on the international rollout of Community Notes, stressing that the two systems should coexist rather than one replacing the other.

Meta did not directly respond to the criticism, saying only that there are "no changes" to its third-party fact-checking program at this time. The company maintains that Community Notes has succeeded in the US, where it now has 1.4 million contributors, though separate research suggests it covers only a small fraction of posts that traditional fact checkers flag as false.