Meta killed outside fact-checking solely to placate Donald Trump

Meta last week announced the end of its third-party fact-checking program with a lot of talk about promoting free speech, ending censorship and getting back to its roots. 

Don’t be fooled. The change is best understood not as the product of reconsidered principles but as a political message with an audience of one: Donald Trump.

That is not to say that the move lacks meaning or consequence beyond currying favor with the once and future president. Meta’s decision will have devastating effects on ...