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8:00 AM ET, January 8, 2025

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 Top News: 
David Gilbert / Wired:
Meta's fact-checking partners, including USA Today, say they were blindsided by Meta's decision to drop them and reject claims of being “too politically biased”  —  Fact-checkers claim they had no idea the company was going to end their partnerships and are scrambling to figure out the financial implications of the move.
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PolitiFact:
Stuart A. Thompson / New York Times:
Meta's fact-checking partners PolitiFact and FactCheck.org say they had no role in deciding what the company did with the content that was fact-checked  —  Fact-checking groups that worked with Meta said they had no role in deciding what the company did with the content that was fact-checked.
Bruna Horvath / NBC News:
Zuckerberg says Meta will restore “free expression” on its platforms, including by replacing its fact-checking program with Community Notes, starting in the US
Discussion: Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram, Bloomberg, CNN, Le Monde, @angieholan, @brendancarrfcc, The Federalist, @elonmusk, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter, @mark_penn, City A.M., IJR, 6abc, RedState, YourStory.com, @jim_jordan, @emollick, @bobbyallyn, Philippe Zaouati on LinkedIn, Jeanniey Walden on LinkedIn, @randpaul, @mikeisaac, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, @dtrinh, @dpdiver.bsky.social, @semaforben, @brianstelter, @jamessurowiecki, @aidnmclaughlin, @andymstone, @econ_marshall, @jessicalessin, @jtlonsdale, @wexler, The Information, @antoniogm, @antoniogm, @antoniogm, @eric_seufert, @adrianweckler, @mgeist, @kylascan, @basedbeffjezos, @oversightboard, @surabees, @michaelmiraflor, @carolecadwalla, @apompliano, @danprimack, @btucker.bsky.social, Daring Fireball, @chavalarias.bsky.social, BBC, @counterhate.com, Blaze Media, Business Insider, The Barbed Wire, RetailWire, Washington Examiner, Theodoros Evgeniou on LinkedIn, News18, Engadget, @karaswisher@threads.net, One Man & His Blog, @schooley.bsky.social, The Guardian, @chrislhayes.bsky.social, Digby's Hullabaloo, KSLTV.com, Breitbart, Inbal Goldberger on LinkedIn, American Greatness, @stroughtonsmith …, Wall Street Journal, Twitchy, @koltai.bsky.social, Ars Technica, NPR, PinkNews, The Wrap, freebeacon.com, New York Times, Dexerto, Fast Company, Free Press, @reckless.bsky.social, Beyond Search, The Verge, Benzinga, @mmasnick.bsky.social, @mmasnick.bsky.social, @rmac.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @mcuban@threads.net, @parkermolloy@threads.net, @dsilverman@threads.net, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, Oversight Board, @simondowens@threads.net, @martinsfp@threads.net, @drewharwell.com, Prof. Annabelle Gawer on LinkedIn, @marietjeschaake.bsky.social, @timobrien.bsky.social, @yaeleisenstat.bsky.social, @drandrealove.bsky.social, @noupside.bsky.social, @kevinrothrock.me, NewsBytes, NTD, @moonalice.com, Jon-Stephen Stansel on LinkedIn, @outnproud.bsky.social, @alistaircoleman.bsky.social, @jospang.bsky.social, @lorak.bsky.social, @adamserwer.bsky.social and @lakewitchhouse.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will phase “civic content” back in, seemingly a reversal of earlier decisions against proactively recommending political content
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Meta's Joel Kaplan says the Trump administration is “a huge supporter of free expression”, which “gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on”
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Meta will lift restrictions on “topics that are part of mainstream discourse”, like immigration and gender, and focus on “illegal and high-severity violations”
New York Times:
Meta will move trust and safety and content moderation teams from California to Texas, to remove concerns “that biased employees are overly censoring content”
Arno Rosenfeld / The Forward:
Docs: The Heritage Foundation plans to “identify and target” volunteer Wikipedia editors who it says are “abusing their position” to publish antisemitic content  —  The conservative think tank told prospective donors that the project was part of its work to combat antisemitism
Mark Kleinman / Sky News:
Piers Morgan and News UK strike a deal that gives him ownership of the Uncensored YouTube channel; News UK will get a share of ad revenue until 2029  —  The outspoken broadcaster's production company is to take ownership of his Uncensored YouTube channel as part of a deal that will see it enter …
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Whatnot, which lets users sell comics and other items through live videos, raised a $265M Series E at a $4.97B valuation, and says its annual GMV passed $3B  —  Whatnot, the platform that allows users to sell items such as trading cards, comics, and sneakers through live videos …
Discussion: Bloomberg
Elena Giordano / Politico:
Italy says Cecilia Sala, the journalist detained in Iran since 19 December, has been freed and is heading back to Italy  —  PM Giorgia Meloni has informed the reporter's family.  —  Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was locked up in Iran last month, has been freed and is on a plane that departed from Tehran on Wednesday.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Michael Flaherty / Axios:
Getty Images Holdings and Shutterstock agree to merge in a deal that creates a $3.7B company; Getty CEO Craig Peters will remain CEO of the combined business  —  - Shutterstock shareholders get one of the following: $28.84 per share in cash; 13.67 shares of Getty for each Shutterstock share they own; or a mix of cash and stock.
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Peacock plans to pilot five mini-games and a short-form vertical video feed on its iOS and Android apps this month before a broader rollout later this spring  —  As Peacock continues to trail behind major players in the entertainment industry like Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube …
Discussion: Media Play News, Neowin and Engadget
 
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 More News: 
Greg Evans / Deadline:
Richard Cohen, who won three Emmy Awards for his work at CBS News and was a former senior producer at CBS and CNN, died on December 24 at 76
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD raises the price of Discovery+ by $1, with its ad-supported plan now costing $5.99 per month, and its ad-free plan costing $9.99 per month
 Earlier Picks: 
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
The Washington Post is laying off roughly 4% of its workforce, affecting fewer than 100 people across its business divisions; its newsroom is not affected