"While Zuckerberg characterized the platform giant’s new approach as a defence of free speech, its real intentions are twofold: Ditch the technology company’s responsibility to protect its many users and align the company more closely with an incoming president who’s a known enemy of accountability," Benavidez said in the press release.

The social networking giant will stop using third-party fact checkers and instead rely on users to add notes to posts. President-elect Trump and his conservative allies said they were pleased.

Social media giant Meta on Tuesday slashed its content moderation policies, including ending its US fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram, in a major shift that conforms with the priorities of incoming president Donald Trump.