Strong organizations work hard to tell their stories, build their brands and protect their reputations. In the wake of Meta’s decision to eliminate third-party fact checkers to correct content on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, they’re likely going to have to work a lot harder.
While most of the attention around this decision has centered on how it will fuel conspiracy theories and impact groups such as the L.G.B.T.Q community, every organization needs to learn how to play by the new rules. People can say whatever they want about events, activities and your organization. It’s up to you to get connected with the “Community Notes” function, respond to false or misleading posts with a “note” and try to rally other contributing users. It also means organizations – including your competitors or detractors — can push the boundaries on their own positions.
I believe we’ll see immediate implications of these policy changes for organizations involved in health, science, public policy and crisis scenarios. The Wall Street Journal has published an excellent article about how Los Angeles County officials are fighting both wildfires and skyrocketing misinformation. Even for mainstream businesses or corporate businesses, a false or misleading post about your company’s policies, products or workforce can quickly spread online, creating confusion and damaging trust. Without built-in mechanisms to counteract it, the task of protecting your reputation and customer loyalty requires you to be more vigilant, engaged and responsive.
Have a conversation TODAY with the professionals within your organization who handle your social media platforms. Review your current policies for creating content and responding to online commentary, particularly on Meta’s platforms and X (formerly Twitter). Those policies need to be updated and your resources on that front need to be boosted. If “truth” is now going to be crowd-sourced, you better get ahead of the crowd and be ready to steer them in the right direction.
Many of RLF’s clients have seen in the past how hard it is to correct blatantly false information on social media platforms. The task just got harder and no one else is going to do it for you. RLF’s team of communication professionals stands ready to help and chart a new path forward.
By: Monty Hagler