[Splatter]

- If you're a HackerNews reader you can probably figure out a technical solution to hide it fairly easily.

For sure. Hiding the panel was done within minutes of realizing that Google didn't provide a way to either redefine/block who fact-checks or remove the panel altogether. That doesn't change the point that Google should have provided a way to hide the panel for those who don't want it.

- Being able to choose who checks facts is pretty much the same as being able to decide your own (alternative?) facts, which is the problem they're trying to solve.

They're trying to solve a problem I didn't ask them to solve. I'll do my own fact-checking.