WIRED magazine prompted a flurry of mocking social media posts by publishing an article fretting about the financial concerns of “fact-checkers” who have lost their jobs because Facebook has stopped employing them in a move to end the platform’s censorship of free speech.
“Fact-checkers claim they had no idea the company was going to end their partnerships and are scrambling to figure out the financial implications of the move,” the technology-and-culture publication wrote Tuesday on X.com, introducing an article titled “Meta’s Fact-Checking Partners Say They Were ‘Blindsided’ by Decision to Axe Them.”
“[S]ome say they are now scrambling to figure out if they can survive the hole this leaves in their funding,” WIRED reported.
“The most painful part of this is losing some very good, experienced journalists, who will no longer be paid to research false claims found on Meta platforms,” WIRED quoted one editor at a fact-checking organization saying.
“For others the financial implications are even more dire,” WIRED warned:
“One editor at a US-based fact-checking organization that works with Meta, who was not authorized to speak on the record, told WIRED that Meta’s decision ‘is going to eventually drain us out.’”
The story has elicited a flood of mocking GIFs and sarcastic expressions of sympathy, in reply to both the WIRED post and posts by others, particularly The Leading Report’s Patrick Webb. Here are just a few:
— Brett B. (@GooN849) January 7, 2025
— Trish "the Plate" (@TrishtheSkeptic) January 7, 2025
— Rufus McClure (@rufus_mcclure) January 7, 2025
Getting out my dancing shoes and party dress. The "Fact-Checkers" won't be able to secure new business that primarily hurt conservatives and they will potentially risk going out of business. pic.twitter.com/KHpnH6ldrC
— Savannah (@BasedSavannah) January 7, 2025
— kristen (@kristenh312) January 7, 2025
The smallest violin plays a sympathy symphony for the boo boos this has caused. pic.twitter.com/DIGKSc6Z3a
— HAPnightowl (@HChocogenes) January 7, 2025
So blue/purple/green haired leftists and foreigners may be out of a job? Cry me a river. pic.twitter.com/GGXCkEF6t4
— nunya (@nunya88788772) January 7, 2025
— lastcoinstanding.substack.com (@LastCoinStandng) January 7, 2025
Editor's Note: This piece was originally published on MRCTV.org
