Facebook is taking steps to improve its Trending Topics section, after taking heat from conservative critics over claims it tampered with the feature to shut out right-leaning news topics. But the social networking juggernaut maintains there is “no evidence of systematic political bias.”
In a statement Monday, Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch said it took swift action to address allegations it “routinely suppressed” news stories and topics that might be of interest to conservative Facebook users while tampering with its algorithm to promote other topics that weren’t necessarily trending.
READ MORE: Facebook denies censoring conservative content
“Our data analysis indicated that conservative and liberal topics are approved as trending topics at virtually identical rates,” read the statement, following an internal investigation and a meeting last week between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and John Thune, chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.
“In fact, we confirmed that most of the subjects mentioned in media reports were included as trending topics on multiple occasions,” Stretch wrote in his statement.
The claims were first made in a May 9 article on the tech website Gizmodo (an arm of Gawker media).
Trending topics were introduced in 2014 and appear in a separate section to the right of the Facebook newsfeed. According to Facebook, potential trending topics are first determined by a software formula, or algorithm, that identifies topics that have spiked in popularity on the site.
The Gizmodo article alleged the Trending Topics section “operates like a traditional newsroom, reflecting the biases of its workers and the institutional imperatives of the corporation.”
READ MORE: Mark Zuckerberg to meet with conservatives over ‘Trending Topics’ allegations
Gizmodo cited an anonymous former news curator who identified as “politically conservative.” The purported former employee reportedly said topics were elected “subjectively” depending on employee shifts.
“I’d come on shift and I’d discover that CPAC [Conservative Political Action Conference] or Mitt Romney or [Conservative radio host] Glenn Beck or popular conservative topics wouldn’t be trending because either the curator didn’t recognize the news topic or it was like they had a bias against Ted Cruz,” Gizmodo reported the employee saying.
Facebook admitted it was possible there may be “isolated improper actions or unintentional bias” and, as such, would implement a number of improvements — including more employee training and greater oversight and review.
READ MORE: Facebook pulls back the curtain on how ‘Trending Topics’ works
Facebook also promised to cease relying on “lists of external websites and news outlets to identify, validate or assess the importance of particular topics.” That lists also included several conservative-oriented media such as Fox News, the Daily Caller, the Drudge Report, the Washington Times, and Beck’s website The Blaze.
In a letter to Senate Committee Chairman Thune, Stretch addressed specific content that Facebook allegedly sidelined, including posts about Romney, Cruz and Beck, as well as posts about late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle — the subject of the film “American Sniper”.
With files from The Associated Press
Comments