Thomas Gradgrind would be turning in his literary grave.  However, in a post-Truth political world, it was inevitable that Facts would soon prove to be a casualty.  What next?  Statistics?  Law?  Civilisation?

Meta’s recent announcement that it is doing away with fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram in favour of Community Notes is a predictable profits-over-ethics consequence of a new Trump administration.

How did Facts become such a bad thing?  As a kid, my most popular reading matter was Jean Stroud’s Piccolo Encyclopedia of Useful Facts.  It was jammed full of all the information an inquiring boy needed to know: longest rivers; tallest mountains; most pig-ignorant US presidents.

Are none of these Facts relevant any longer?  Was the entire Age of Enlightenment all for nought? 

Meta’s decision to abandon fact checkers seems akin to someone dismissing their surgeon on the eve of an open-heart operation and inviting twenty random strangers to step in and do the best they can instead.

Community Notes find Thomas Gradgrind struggling on life support.

© Simon Turner-Tree

Simon Turner-Tree doesn’t know where to look for elusive Facts in a post-Truth world.