Fox News: Fact-checking director warns of 'crisis' as Meta, Trump's DOGE cuts threaten their 'honorable, patriotic' work

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Fact-checking director warns of 'crisis' as Meta, Trump's DOGE cuts threaten their 'honorable, patriotic' work

International Fact-Checking Network Director Angie Drobnic Holan defended the profession as crucial for democracy and fighting disinformation worldwide.......                    ...                        ...You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login severe challenges and political pressure while doing their "honorable" and "patriotic" work, one director warned.......On Wednesday, International Fact-Checking Network Director Angie Drobnic Holan penned You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to mark "International Fact-Checking Day." Though the day has been a time of celebration for her in the past, she wrote that the community has already faced several major blows in 2025, threatening not just the profession but society as well.......Holan pointed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing in January that the company would be You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login across Facebook, Meta and Instagram platforms.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......"Not everyone loves fact-checking, and there are powerful political forces that would simply like it to go away," Holan wrote. "This is indeed a crisis for fact-checkers, but it's even worse for the general public. Disinformation hurts people. It has real-world consequences."......She cited President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as another example. ......Holan said, "The public funding that Elon Musk is trashing was another factor in the growth of fact-checking; groups like USAID thought that funding fact-checking overseas would empower democracy and accountable government."......"I remember an international development officer telling me that fact-checking encouraged fact-based public debate on important public issues and therefore encouraged stable societies," she recalled.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Holan attributed attacks on fact-checking to its effectiveness......."Fact-checking holds the line on reality for history's sake. It builds evidence-based records that can withstand political pressures," she wrote. "Politicians who want to create their own realities are fighting hard against fact-checking, and they're strong-arming tech companies and social media platforms into helping them."......Holan called on fact-checkers to defend their "truth-seeking" in the face of these challenges......."If we want a society that respects truth, now is our time to fight for it," Holan concluded.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login Meta's decision to pull fact-checkers, claiming that it was Zuckerberg capitulating to Trump ahead of his inauguration. Some even called the decision "dangerous."...

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