- Sputnik International, 1920
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Facebook to Reduce Political Content in Some Feeds in Coming Weeks

© REUTERS / Dado Ruvic3D printed ballot boxes are seen in front of a displayed Facebook logo in this illustration taken November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
3D printed ballot boxes are seen in front of a displayed Facebook logo in this illustration taken November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo - Sputnik International, 1920, 10.02.2021
Subscribe
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Facebook will temporarily limit the amount of political content that appears in the news feeds of users in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia this week, and in the United States in the coming weeks, the company’s Product Management Director Aastha Gupta said on Wednesday.

“We will temporarily reduce the distribution of political content in News Feed for a small percentage of people in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia this week, and the US in the coming weeks,” Gupta said in a blog post.

The move is a part of a broader effort by the company to better understand users' different preferences for political content, Gupta said. In the coming weeks, the company will test "a number of approaches" and conduct surveys to gain more insight about users' preferences regarding political content.

“During these initial tests we will explore a variety of ways to rank political content in people’s feeds using different signals, and then decide on the approaches we’ll use going forward,” she said.

The new policy will exclude COVID-19 information from authoritative health institutions, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from these tests. Content from official government agencies and services will also be exempt, Gupta added.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is surrounded by members of the media as he arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.01.2021
Facebook to Permanently Impose Limits on Political Content, Zuckerberg Says

The company promises to keep some kinds of political content available on the platform. “It is important to note that we’re not removing political content from Facebook altogether,” Gupta said.

However, she noted that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that a common piece of feedback the company receives from users is that they do not want political posts "to take over" their news feeds.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала