Facebook to Stop Recommending Political Groups to Users

On Wednesday, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said the social network will no longer recommend members to politics-themed communities, a step already taken in the US because of election tensions.

The social media giant seeks to build a reputation tarnished by political scandal, including the rise of Donald Trump to the White House, reports AFP.

“We plan to keep civic and political groups out of recommendations for the long term and we plan to expand that policy globally,” Zuckerberg said in an earnings call.

He added that Facebook would also reduce political content in users’ main news feeds as part of a push “to turn down the temperature and discourage divisive conversation.”

The change takes permanent measures to protect Facebook from becoming a forum for violent or false messages during the presidential election in the United States.

Last week, Facebook said it was asking its independent experts to determine if the suspension of former President Trump for "promoting insurrection" should stand.

Facebook and Instagram suspended Trump after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, an attack on the seat of democracy that led to Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment.

The platform is referring the decision to its independent oversight board, which is tasked with making final decisions on appeals regarding what is removed or allowed to remain on the world’s biggest social network.

“We believe our decision was necessary and right,” Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a blog post at the time.

Jurists, human rights lawyers, authors, a Nobel Peace Laureate and a former Danish Prime Minister are members of the oversight board from different countries.

In the face of growing concerns about disinformation and exploitation around the US election, the launch of the panel came late last year.

Reaction to the Trump ban has ranged from criticism that Facebook should have booted him long ago to outrage over his online voice being muted. Zuckerberg said the decision to dial down politics related recommendations stemmed from user feedback, and will apply globally to the social network.

“We want these discussions to be able to keep happening,” Zuckerberg said.

“But one of the top pieces of feedback that we are hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services.”