Facebook is removing its “Trending” feature, a box that promoted news topics, as founder Mark Zuckerberg reshapes the social media titan’s content policies amid simultaneous criticism from both ends of the political spectrum.
The section, designed to inform users about topics that were popular across the platform, was available in only five countries but drew complaints as long ago as May 2016, when Gizmodo reported that contract workers suppressed conservative-leaning articles.
Censure of Facebook’s handling of news articles has only increased since, with reports that Russian agents used the platform to promote false stories in order to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Earlier this year, Facebook’s concession that a consultant for President Trump’s 2016 campaign had improperly accessed data for some 87 million of its users prompted congressional hearings where Republican lawmakers also questioned whether the platform had censored conservatives such as YouTube commentators Diamond and Silk.
Zuckerberg responded that executives work hard to avoid any political bias in content, a risk he’s keenly aware of given Silicon Valley’s liberal sensibilities, and subsequently retained former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl to evaluate such concerns.
[Related: Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook developing ranking system for news outlet trustworthiness]
“We are committed to ensuring the news that people see on Facebook is high quality, and we’re investing in ways to better draw attention to breaking news when it matters most,” Alex Hardiman, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company’s head of news products, said in a blog post about the “Trending” feature on Friday.
As alternatives, the company is running a test with 80 publishers across North and South America and in Europe and Asia that lets them add a “breaking news” indicator to their posts, adding a video section to “Facebook Watch” and evaluating a “Today In” section that links users to important news from their area.
“We’re exploring new ways to help people stay informed about timely, breaking news that matters to them, while making sure the news they see on Facebook is from trustworthy and quality sources,” Hardiman said.
