Regarding the allegations that Facebook’s Trending News section is suppressing Republican views, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, invited conservative leaders to meet with him on Wednesday.
Zuckerberg will meet with several conservatives, including political commentator Glenn Beck, White House press secretary Dana Perino, a senior advisor to Donald Trump named Barry Bennett and Fox News co-host.
After several conservatives criticized and threatened with leaving Facebook over the report, Zuckerberg posted a statement to explain that Facebook didn’t allow the prioritization of political perspectives. In addition, Facebook responded to the allegations by saying that there wasn’t evidence that proves the veracity of the allegations.
“Trending Topics is designed to surface the most newsworthy and popular conversations on Facebook. We have rigorous guidelines that do not permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or the suppression of political perspectives,” Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.
Zuckerberg added that he will invite leading conservatives in the coming weeks to discuss the matter and share their points of view. He also noted that his intention was not other than to assure them that the platform will remain as open as possible, because that’s what Facebook stands for.
Facebook’s CEO claimed that he promises to take additional measures if they find anything that goes against Facebook’s policies.
Employees claim that Facebook suppresses stories of interest for conservatives
Recently, Gizmodo reported that Facebook employees told them that the social media “suppress” stories linked to conservatives in the Trending news section, even when the news are trending organically thanks to Facebook readers.
The website argued Zuckerberg’s meeting proposal by saying that all the people invited to participate in the meeting were anti-Trump, meaning that he’s not creating a diverse group for the discussion as he said he would. However, Bennett confirmed his assistance to the meeting, which could have minimized that criticism, rt.com reported.
According to the reports, back in April Zuckerberg, who agrees with a more open immigration policy, criticized Trump’s intentions to build a wall between the US and Mexico.
Source: RT