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Facebook on Monday said it was making changes aimed at keeping political bias out of its "trending" stories list even though an internal investigation revealed no evidence it was happening. "Our investigation has revealed no evidence of systematic political bias in the selection or prominence of stories included in the Trending Topics feature," Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch said in a letter responding to a query from Republican US Senator John Thune, who chairs the commerce committee.
Facebook says it is dropping its reliance on news outlets to help determine what gets posted as a "trending topic" on the giant social network following a backlash over a report saying it suppressed conservative views. Facebook's General Counsel Colin Stretch outlined this and other reforms in a 12-page letter sent Monday to Republican Sen. John Thune, chairman of the commerce committee, which oversees the Internet and consumer protections.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg heard from more than a dozen U.S. conservative leaders on Wednesday and said he will work to build trust with users who believe the social network displays politically biased news content. After a closed-door meeting at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, Zuckerberg defended his company's practices but acknowledged that many conservatives believe Facebook is politically liberal.
Mark Zuckerberg and his massive social-media site Facebook have come under strong criticism for allegedly suppressing stories of interest for conservative readers from its influential "trending" news section. Facebook has roughly 1.6 billion users worldwide, 167 million of whom are in the United States.
Top conservative commentators have gathered at Facebook's headquarters for a confab with CEO Mark Zuckerberg meant to reassure them that its "trending topics" feature wasn't biased against their viewpoints. Commentators invited include radio host Glenn Beck, American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, Tea Party Patriots CEO Jenny Beth Martin and Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, which says its "sole mission is to expose and neutralize the propaganda arm of the Left: the national news media."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is meeting with conservatives, including radio host Glenn Beck, to discuss claims that its "trending topics" feature is biased against their viewpoints. The Wednesday meeting also includes American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, Tea Party Patriots CEO Jenny Beth Martin and also Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, which says its "sole mission is to expose and neutralize the propaganda arm of the Left: the national news media."
Some of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's neighbors are grumbling about a rock wall he's having built on his property on the north shore of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.