Facebook to revamp ‘Trending Topics’
Social media giant says probe found no ‘systematic’ bias
Facebook is making changes to how it selects the most important news articles on the giant social network after its internal investigation found no evidence of “systematic” bias but could not rule out the possibility of “isolated improper actions or unintentional bias.”
“Our data analysis indicated that conservative and liberal topics are approved as trending topics at virtually identical rates. We were also unable to substantiate any of the specific allegations of politically-motivated suppression of particular subjects or sources. In fact, we confirmed that most of the subjects mentioned in media reports were included as trending topics on multiple occasions,” Facebook’s general counsel Colin Stretch wrote in a blog post.
But, in an effort to “minimize risks where human judgment is involved,” Facebook said it would change some policies, such as relying on certain news outlets to assess newsworthiness of a topic, and would add more oversight.
Facebook made the announcement after meeting last week with prominent conservatives including top Senate Republican John Thune of South Dakota, who chairs the Senate commerce committee. Thune sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, demanding to know how Facebook chooses trending topics after tech website Gizmodo reported Facebook’s news curators suppressed conservative articles and news outlets in the “Trending Topics” feature that highlights the most popular news on Facebook. Republicans’ perceptions of Facebook declined significantly after the story broke, putting growing pressure on Facebook to repair the damage.
At issue: the small box that appears in the upper right of a Facebook page or when a user taps the search bar in the mobile app that lists news topics that are popular on Facebook.
“We appreciated the opportunity to discuss these issues with the Chairman,” Stretch wrote on Monday. In a statement, Thune said, “The seriousness with which Facebook has treated these allegations and its desire to serve as an open platform for all viewpoints is evident and encouraging and I look forward to the company’s actions meeting its public rhetoric.”