The report mentions outlets like Breitbart, with some staff accusing the company of making exceptions for right-wing media outlets. Moreover, some senior-level staffers were told about the potential negative impact of this move. Employees said that Facebook kept outlets like Breitbart on a second tier of the primary News tab. This tab provides reliable news and information to the users. This was contentious because news agencies like Breitbart have low trust and quality scores on the platform.
Facebook was reportedly concerned about the potential political backlash
Breitbart has also been pulled up in the past for violation of misinformation policies. Workers said that in addition to making an exception for such sources, Facebook also highlighted them as its trusted partners. Staff said that Facebook was concerned about the political criticism from conservatives. Some higher-level staff reportedly justified the move by saying that this could also lead to the removal of platforms like CNN. WSJ reports (via) that when employees requested the company to step in over Breitbart’s attempts to allegedly dodge the platform’s advertising blocks, a director at the company simply said that Facebook couldn’t do much. In response to WSJ, Facebook said it wants to keep access to low-quality material to “improve people’s experiences,” denying accusations of political bias. A spokesperson for the company said that it monitored the effects of the changes before bringing them to the platform. Facebook also said that content providers like Breitbart are meeting the requirements to tackle hate speech and misinformation. All of this comes amid reports that Facebook wants to rebrand itself with a new name. The company seemingly wants to become a metaverse company. Since FB hasn’t provided a precise definition of the term, one can assume that it wants to branch out into more sectors. Facebook’s ambitions for the finance sector are pretty clear, so this could be a big step for the company. CEO Mark Zuckerberg will likely offer more details on this development at the Facebook Connect conference on October 28.
