Is fact-checking "censorship?" Why Meta's changes are a win for conservatives.

By Brittany Luse,

Huo Jingnan, Corey Antonio Rose, Barton Girdwood, Jasmine Romero, Veralyn Williams

Published January 17, 2025 at 8:44 AM EST

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will end their third-party fact checking program, loosen their hate speech restrictions, and move some of the company to Texas. What's all of that signal about what we will see on social platforms in the coming months and years?

Brittany Luse is joined by NPR reporter Huo Jingnan and Washington Post tech reporter Naomi Nix to break down Meta's tangled relationship to misinformation and how these changes will impact users.

Plus, Brittany, NPR Staff, and NPR listeners share their memories of Los Angeles in a special "Love Letter to LA" amid the ongoing wildfires.

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Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host, and cultural critic. She is the host of It's Been a Minute and For Colored Nerds. Previously Luse hosted The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, and Teen Vogue.

Huo Jingnan

Huo Jingnan (she/her) is an assistant producer on NPR's investigations team.

See stories by Huo Jingnan

Corey Antonio Rose

Barton Girdwood

Jasmine Romero

Veralyn Williams

Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. Now she brings her skills (and ears) to her role as executive producer of programming at NPR.