Combating political reinforcement: Zuckerberg called the decision Wednesday during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call ” a continuation of the work we’ve been doing for a while to lower the temperature and discourage divisions. ‘
The Facebook chief also said the company is considering taking new steps to limit the amount of political content users see in its News Feed.
“Politics has had a way of crawling into everything, and I think a lot … the feedback we see from our community is that people do not want it in their experience,” Zuckerberg said on the call with investors.
Under pressure: Technical enterprises are facing major political scrutiny over the role that social media platforms played in the uprising at the Capitol.
Dozens of Democrats last week called on Facebook and other social media companies to sharpen their recommendations and algorithms to reduce the spread of burning, divisive and violent content on their platforms. Lawmakers hailed the companies, saying that by creating a ‘digital echo chamber’, they had contributed to the radicalization of those who stormed the Capitol.
“Perhaps no single entity is more responsible for spreading dangerous conspiracy theories on a large scale or for offending government grievances than the one you started and which you oversee today as chairman and CEO,” they a letter to Zuckerberg. .
The issue has also raised concerns about two parties. A group of Republicans and Democrats from the Senate teamed up in 2019 with legislation to require platforms to give users the option to experience websites without algorithmic recommendations.