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By Reuters
Thursday, January 28, 2021, 14:09 By Reuters
In this photo illustration, a Facebook feed page is displayed on a smartphone in Virginia, the United States, on March 25, 2020. (OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP)
Facebook Inc‘s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday the company would no longer recommend civic and political groups to users of the platform.
The social media company said in October that it was temporarily halting recommendations of political groups for US users in the run-up to the presidential election. On Wednesday, Facebook said it would be making this permanent and would expand the policy globally.
Facebook’s CEO said that the social media company was also considering steps to reduce the amount of political content in users’ news feeds
Democratic Senator Ed Markey wrote to Zuckerberg Tuesday, asking for an explanation of reports, including by news site The Markup, that Facebook had failed to stop recommending political groups on its platform after this move.
He called Facebook’s groups “breeding groups for hate” and noted they had been venues of planning for the Jan 6 riot at the US Capitol.
ALSO READ: Facebook to curb groups spreading lies, harmful content
Speaking on a conference call with analysts about Facebook’s earnings, Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that the company was “continuing to fine-tune how this works”.
Facebook groups are communities that form around shared interests. Public groups can be seen, searched and joined by anyone on Facebook.
Several watchdog and advocacy groups have pushed for Facebook to limit algorithmic group recommendations. They have argued that some Facebook Groups have been used as spaces to spread misinformation and organize extremist activity.
READ MORE: Facebook offers up first-ever estimate of hate speech prevalence
Zuckerberg also said that Facebook was considering steps to reduce the amount of political content in users’ news feeds.
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