Facebook To Introduce Revamp On Trending Topics Amidst Allegations Of Being Biased

Allegations were thrown at Facebook recently concerning biases against conservative views and trending topics. However, Facebook responded clarified the matter and denies that the team was deliberately alleviating the conversation views. 

Facebook issued a press release today to address the issue and to respond to the queries concerning the alleged prejudice against certain subjects in their Trending Topics feature.  Senator John Thune, member of the Senate Commerce Committee, is also one of the recipients of the letter.

In the said press release and letter, Facebook remained adamant that there is no evidence of any political bias in the screening of stories to be featured in the Trending Topics section. Moreover, it also pointed out that based on their investigation and analysis, there is no difference between the rates approval involving both liberal and conservative topics. As part of the investigation they carried out, Facebook looked into the process of analyzing stories and how each of them was blacklisted, boosted, or sent back for corrections.

 However, the same press release also emphasized that their group could not discount the possibility of unintentional or improper actions in the guideline implementation.  In this regard, Facebook also highlighted that it will put in place certain changes in order to ensure the public that it is serious when it comes to ensuring fair selection of Trending Topics.

Among the changes Facebook plans to implement is the replacement of the massive RSS feeds that is used by reviewers.  Moreover, reviewers of the topic will not be able to designate a 'level of importance' of the topic based solely on its current ranking the major news outlets.  All changes will eventually be reflected on the 'Help Center'.

Senator John Thune likewise released a statement praising Facebook for its prompt action and for the way it addressed the matter. He likewise reiterated that the principal goal of the Senate Commerce Committee is transparency and not regulation.