How Policing Content Fell Out of Fashion at Meta

Summary

WSJ Tech News Briefing: How Policing Content Fell Out of Fashion at Meta
Released on January 9, 2025
Host: James Rundle, The Wall Street Journal

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1. Navigating the Crowded Healthcare AI Startup Ecosystem

James Rundle opens the episode by highlighting the surge of AI-driven startups in the healthcare sector and the resulting challenges for venture capital (VC) firms trying to discern genuine opportunities from mere hype. Brian Gormley, a WSJ reporter, delves into the common pitfalls these startups encounter and what differentiates successful ventures in this competitive landscape.

• Common Pitfalls for Healthcare AI Startups
  Gormley explains that startups often falter due to:

  • Insufficient Data Quality: "Some of them don't have very strong data to train their algorithms" (01:37).
  • Lack of Healthcare Expertise: "Some of them don't have enough expertise in healthcare to understand the dynamics of the marketplace" (01:37).
  • Poor Market Understanding: "Some of them may not have enough understanding of the market opportunity and where is the best application for their technology" (01:37).

• Strategies for Standing Out
  Successful companies distinguish themselves by generating proprietary data and developing unique biotechnological capabilities. Gormley states, "Biotechnology companies can stand out by having a technology that generates biological data that no other company can develop" (02:30). This proprietary data allows them to train algorithms for drug discovery that competitors cannot replicate.

• Competition with Incumbent Tech Providers
  Startups face stiff competition from established tech giants embedded within the medical system. However, identifying and addressing unmet needs provides openings for new entrants. Gormley notes, "If a company can identify a weakness that is not being fully addressed by the incumbents, that's where the opportunity comes in for a startup" (03:19).

• Importance of Combining Expertise
  Gormley emphasizes the necessity for startups to integrate technological and healthcare expertise. "The companies that are more likely to get funded are those that do have those right combination of technological and healthcare expertise" (04:03). Building a cohesive team that bridges these domains is crucial for attracting VC investment.

2. Meta's Shift Away from Content Policing in the US

Transitioning from healthcare AI, James Rundle introduces a significant change at Meta: the termination of fact-checking services on Facebook and Instagram in the United States. Alexa Kors, WSJ technology reporter, provides an in-depth analysis of this decision and its broader implications.

• Meta's Announcement and Rationale
  Meta frames the move as a commitment to free speech, asserting that existing content moderation systems have become overly restrictive and prone to errors. Alexa Kors summarizes, "The announcement was really framed as a free speech pitch" (06:10). CEO Mark Zuckerberg elaborates, stating that fact-checkers have been perceived as "too politically biased" and have eroded user trust (06:48).

• Comparison with Elon Musk's X Platform
  Meta's approach mirrors some strategies employed by Elon Musk's X platform, particularly the use of community-driven fact-checking. Kors explains, "Zuckerberg actually specifically credited X in his announcement and said he wants to copy some of what X is doing" (07:12). This involves leveraging user-generated contextual notes to address misleading posts.

• Risks and Benefits of Community-Based Moderation
  Adopting a community-based moderation system presents both opportunities and challenges:

  • Benefits: Users may trust peer-generated content more than professional fact-checkers. "There are some people who trust fellow users more than professional fact checkers" (07:57).
  • Downsides: The system may struggle with the rapid spread of viral content before fact-checks can be applied. "A post can go viral before a note can get attached" (07:57).

• Political and Commercial Implications
  The decision appears influenced by political pressures, particularly from conservative groups wary of perceived censorship. Kors states, "Politics is clearly part of the equation here" (08:45). Additionally, cost-saving measures may play a role, as Meta seeks to reduce its billions invested in content moderation by shifting responsibilities to users (09:38).

• Impact on User Experience and Advertisers
  The long-term effects on user experience remain uncertain, as the new moderation system is still being rolled out. Meta asserts that advertisers remain largely unaffected, continuing to rely on the platform's robust advertising infrastructure despite the changes (10:33).

• International Ramifications
  Meta's shift conflicts with regulatory trends in regions like the European Union, which is increasing demands for stringent content oversight. A European Commission spokesman indicated potential clashes, although Meta maintains it will continue to remove illegal and seriously harmful content (11:09).

Conclusion

This episode of WSJ Tech News Briefing provides a comprehensive look into two distinct yet impactful areas within the tech industry. From the strategic maneuvers of healthcare AI startups navigating a saturated market to Meta's bold redefinition of content moderation practices, the discussions underscore the evolving challenges and responses shaping the tech landscape.

Produced by Julie Chang with supervising producer Katherine Milsop.

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Notable Quotes

• Brian Gormley (01:37): "Venture capitalists are looking for companies that have the right mix of data, technological expertise, healthcare expertise, and understanding of the healthcare marketplace."

• Mark Zuckerberg (06:48): "After Trump first got elected in 2016, the legacy media wrote nonstop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy. We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth, but the fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created."

• Alexa Kors (07:57): "There are some people who trust fellow users more than professional fact checkers. So this might appeal to that kind of user."

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Timestamps

• 01:37 - Introduction to Healthcare AI Startups' Challenges
• 02:30 - Strategies for Startups to Stand Out
• 03:19 - Competition with Incumbent Tech Providers
• 04:03 - Importance of Combining Expertise
• 06:10 - Meta's Rationale for Ending Fact-Checking
• 06:48 - Zuckerberg on Misinformation and Trust
• 07:12 - Comparison with Elon Musk's X Platform
• 07:57 - Risks and Benefits of Community-Based Moderation
• 08:45 - Political and Commercial Implications
• 09:38 - Cost Considerations for Meta
• 10:33 - Advertisers' Response to Meta's Changes
• 11:09 - International Ramifications

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This summary is intended for informational purposes and provides an overview of the discussed topics based on the transcript provided.

Transcript

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[James Rundle]

It's Thursday, January 9th. I'm James Rundle for the Wall Street Journal. Healthcare is being bombarded with startups claiming that artificial intelligence gives them an edge over their rivals. Venture capital firms are being forced to sort the opportunity from the hype. We'll find out what investors are looking out for and avoiding. And then Meta's decision to end fact checking on Facebook and Instagram starting in the US has reignited the debate over the role social media companies play in monitoring what's posted to their platforms. Our technology reporter Alexa course tells us how the change could affect users and advertisers. But first, amid a deluge of healthcare startups looking to solve everything from global pandemics to ultra specific diseases with AI, the market is starting to look crowded. And when it comes to wooing investors, many companies make the same mistakes. WSJ reporter Brian Gormley joins us now to talk about what doesn't work and what does in the world of healthcare AI. Brian, what are some of the common pitfalls that startups face?

[Brian Gormley]

Venture capitalists are looking for companies that have the right mix of data, technological expertise, healthcare expertise, and understanding of the healthcare marketplace. And not all companies have all those ingredients. Some of them don't have very strong data to train their algorithms. Some of them don't have enough expertise in health care to understand the dynamics of the marketplace. Some of them may not have enough understanding of the market opportunity and where is the best application for their technology. So those are some of the areas where companies can go wrong. And venture capitalists are looking for companies that have figured out where to apply their technology effectively across the healthcare landscape.

[James Rundle]

So with that in mind, where have some of these companies stood out and where have they found opportunities to really separate themselves from the crowd?

[Brian Gormley]

Companies that generate proprietary data are those that stand out. Certainly, generating the data that you need to answer a very specific question in healthcare is not something that is easy to do. Much of the medical systems information is siloed in insurance companies, health systems, pharmaceutical companies. So startups need to find a way to acquire that data or generate it themselves. And biotechnology companies can stand out by having a technology that generates biological data that no other company can develop and use that data to train algorithms to search for drugs that other companies wouldn't be able to find because they don't have that proprietary data.

[James Rundle]

How much of an uphill battle do startups face taking on incumbent tech providers?

[Brian Gormley]

In this sector, they do face competition from incumbents. The incumbents have their own AI strategies and they have the existing relationships and they're embedded in the medical system. But if a company can identify a weakness that is not being fully addressed by the incumbents, that's where the opportunity comes in for a startup. And that's where venture capitalists are looking to make investments to find the the companies that are addressing something that hasn't been fully resolved by an incumbent and use that technology to resolve it fully.

[James Rundle]

You mentioned earlier that it's important for companies to also have medical and health care expertise in their ranks as well. How common is it for these startups to have that kind of background within their employee base?

[Brian Gormley]

The companies that are more likely to get funded are those that do have those right combination of technological and healthcare expertise. And it's not easy to acquire that kind of talent. There's a war for talent within the ranks of AI specialists and there's only so many people who have the expertise in the medical system. And you need to bring all that together into one company and marry the cultures of the two and bring forward a cohesive team that can solve a very specific problem. And those are the kinds of companies that venture capitalists are looking to invest in.

[James Rundle]

That was our reporter Brian Gormley. Coming up, Meta is dropping fact checking in the US saying it wants to promote free expression across its platforms. But what does this mean for the future of Facebook, Instagram and threads? That's after the break.

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[James Rundle]

Social media companies, long wary of content moderation, are cutting back on such efforts. Meta announced this week that it would end fact checking in the US and remove several speech restrictions across its platforms, instead relying on its user community to add context to misleading posts. Meta's decision is a huge shift in its thinking around how it manages what its users post to its platforms, nearly 10 years after it started working with independent fact checkers. Here now to explain what this change could mean for the industry is our technology reporter, Alexa Kors. Alexa, why do social media companies say they're doing this?

[Alexa Kors]

The announcement was really framed as a free speech pitch and a lot of what Meta talked about was that they've developed a lot of rules over the years and a lot of systems to try to address different policies and concerns. And the sense was that it's just too much and they're making mistakes that are resulting in censorship. So let's simplify and focus on free speech. More speech.

[James Rundle]

Yeah. And CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his video announcement how recent elections played a role in this decision.

[Mark Zuckerberg]

After Trump first got elected in 2016, the legacy media wrote nonstop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy. We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth, but the fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in.

[James Rundle]

The US how is what Meta is doing similar to what Elon Musk has done at X?

[Alexa Kors]

There are a lot of similarities and Zuckerberg actually specifically credited X in his announcement and said he wants to copy some of what X is doing. And he specifically said that about this Community notes feature that X has. This is a feature on X where volunteers write fact checking or contextual notes and they get appended to posts and people actually vote on whether these notes are helpful or not. And people with differing viewpoints have to agree that this note is helpful for it to like show up under a post.

[James Rundle]

So what are the risks and the benefits of a community based approach to content moderation versus hiring professionals?

[Alexa Kors]

I've spoken to researchers who have studied community notes and they say the system has some benefits, but it also has downside. So a benefit is that there are some people who trust fellow users more than professional fact checkers. So this might appeal to that kind of user. Now think about some of the downsides. Virality. It takes time for this system to work and X has said it's working on making it much faster, but it just takes time. And sometimes a post can go viral before a note can get attached.

[James Rundle]

So there have been complaints in the past around content moderation on social media sites, specifically from the conservative right. To what extent has this been a political decision versus a commercial one?

[Alexa Kors]

One thing I should say is that professional fact checkers aren't always right either. No one is always right. But politics is clearly part of the equation here. We're clearly at a moment with the recent election of Donald Trump where the narrative has really shifted to highlight concerns that people, especially conservatives, as you said, have had about what they see as censorship, what they see as big tech overreach. And this is Meta responding to that. Zuckerberg actually said in a post that they want to remove rules that he sees as out of touch with mainstream discourse. That's a nod to the mood in America right now among many people who've been frustrated by these rules.

[James Rundle]

What about costs? Was that a factor here?

[Alexa Kors]

Yeah, Meta has said it has invested billions on safety and security over the years. So you can definitely see the appeal of a company saying maybe they can save money here by saying, okay, users, you fact check each other instead of us hiring people to handle all of this.

[James Rundle]

Do you have a sense of how scaling back content moderation will affect what users see and experience on Meta's platforms?

[Alexa Kors]

So this is very new. We're all, like, waiting to see exactly how this plays out. But Meta did give a few examples in their announcement, and they said that they're going to loosen restrictions when talking about issues like gender, for example. Meta said that users will start to see these changes in the next few weeks, and these changes are happening across Facebook, Facebook, Instagram, and threads.

[James Rundle]

How have advertisers responded to Meta's announcement?

[Alexa Kors]

So far, what we've heard from advertisers is that they're not planning dramatic changes. Meta is just so dominant in this space. It's such a huge player in the advertising space, and it's known for providing a good return on your investment. Meta has weathered other controversies around this before. We'll see how this plays out, but that's what we're hearing so far.

[James Rundle]

And how is this decision on fact checking likely to play out on an international level? The European Union, for instance, has been strengthening laws related to how social media companies such as Meta conduct their business.

[Alexa Kors]

So we also asked the European Commission about this, and a spokesman said that they have no comment immediately, since the changes initially are only rolling out in the US but it seems pretty clear that this is likely to create a clash. It's just moving generally in the opposite direction of a lot of what the EU has been pushing for in terms of them having concerns about platforms hosting illegal content and other harmful content. To be clear, Meta has said that they'll still take down illegal content and serious violations.

[James Rundle]

That was our reporter Alexa course. And that's it for Tech News Briefing. Today's show was produced by Julie Chang with supervising producer Katherine Milsop. I'm James Rundle for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back this afternoon with TMB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.