‘Harm or harmony’: Meta’s policy change sparks concerns in the Pacific

Pacific communities are urged to pay close attention to Meta’s decision to remove its longstanding third-party fact-checking system for a user-driven approach.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the company would end its partnerships with independent fact-checkers and adopt a “community notes” model that allows users to assess the credibility of posts.

Jope Tarai, a Pacific scholar at the Australian National University, said this could have major repercussions for Pacific people, who have already been impacted by misinformation, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In the Pacific region, there's a tendency for us to get swayed by particular pieces of information that can be either sensationalised or without real scientific basis and rigorous testing,” Tarai said.

“Given the fact that for as far as covid-19 vaccination efforts are concerned, there's a certain way in which our society tends to see pieces of information and also see global phenomenon, whether it be on the basis of biblical interpretations, cultural interpretations, or really by word of mouth.

“It can have certain implications because it will require a certain threshold of questioning if such information is helpful or not helpful.”

Covid-19 misinformation

Another concern regarding misinformation is its impact on Pacific people. Many relied heavily on social media for critical health information during the pandemic.

Research titled Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination amongst Pacific people revealed that the elderly in the community were more vulnerable to misinformation than younger people, who were better skilled at identifying “fake news”.

Watch the full interview via 531pi’s FB below.

The report also noted that while few people believed in specific conspiracy theories circulating, the sheer volume of misinformation and a lack of credible sources created “a climate of uncertainty".

“This effect can also reach beyond social media for example, a Tongan woman is reported as walking around the Ōtara markets with a board saying, ‘No to the vaccine, you’ll die from it’,” the report said.

Recent studies show that future pandemics are inevitable, and communities in Aotearoa must prepare accordingly.

Digital inequities in the Pacific

There are existing concerns in the Pacific regarding digital access and literacy, alongside gender disparities and language barriers.

Tarai said many communities across the region lacked the institutional structures and training necessary to “address the need for digital literacy”.

“And also the consciousness and awareness about the need to be aware of certain bits of information that can have particularly hidden consequences.

Future pandemics are an inevitability that we must prepare for, according to Professor Michael Baker. Photo/Unsplash

“So when we're looking at the New Caledonia case and various other implications of that, clearly the fight for liberation and the freedom of our Kanaki brothers and sisters is something that we don't know about.

“So again, digital literacy and the education around that.”

He warned that Meta’s community notes could result in “very vocal figures” validating out-of-context information, overlooking it entirely.

“It can be driven sort of by the almost tyranny of those that have greater currency in this discussion.

“So it can get very contentious and maybe even problematic, especially if such individuals are not qualified to speak or to validate certain issues or to address certain issues or to critique certain issues.”

‘Harm or harmony’

Tarai said that while Meta’s new policy could replicate existing challenges without robust safeguards, the “community notes” could potentially benefit from them.

A 2024 UNICEF report found that rural areas in Vanuatu often need to catch up to their urban counterparts regarding access to digital tools and internet connectivity. Photo/Unsplash.

If implemented appropriately, this could promote community engagement and incorporate culturally nuanced feedback.

“We need the systematic structures in place in order to facilitate the contextualisation of bits of information and the empowerment of community-based sort of crowdsourcing of information in a certain way.

“At some point, there's a need to exercise some sense of self-responsibility rather than community-related responsibility.

“And also to understand that social media can become a tool that can harm people as well as create harmony.

“I think it's understated or often forgotten, the potential for such a tool to create either good or bad.”