Last week, Meta decided to replace its fact-checking system with X-style “Community Notes” and it looks like a version of this feature is already being tested on Threads. Alessandro Paluzzi, a developer who often posts leaks on Meta apps, shared three screenshots that show an early look at what Community Notes will look like in Thread.
Paluzzi’s photos show a new “Write a Public Note” option in the menu you can access in the corner of the Braids post. If you choose it, it appears that you will be able to post your note anonymously, and if it is rated as helpful, it will appear below the post. The whole setup is not unlike how X uses Social Notes, which started as a feature called “Birdwatch” on Twitter before Elon Musk acquired and renamed the company.
Engadget has reached out to Meta for information about the new Threads feature and will update this post if we learn more.
Community Notes is one of the ways Threads is changing under the new Meta moderation system. The app, which was against sharing and promoting “political” content, will now also promote political posts. Head of Instagram and Threads Adam Mosseri showed how to adjust the amount of political content you see in your feed in a short video shared on Threads today. Meta gives users three options to choose from: “See less,” which tries to eliminate political content, “General,” which suggests more political content and “See more,” which treats political content like everything else in the app.
It’s unclear whether the Community Notes or political content toggles address the real problems users have with Threads, or if it will make anyone happier. They fit the “free speech champion” image that Meta is trying to project, however.