Facebook has announced that they will be implementing content tests meant to decrease the amount of political content its users see in coming weeks.
Mark Zuckerberg claims that facebook users have been sending in overwhelming feedback desiring less political content in their feed.
However this does not seem like the most sound approach to the issue. It’s a bold move for Facebook to design tests that filter out political content that users would otherwise see.
After all, if facebook users were not interested in politics, nobody would be posting about them and there would be no issue. It seems this problem may be more along the lines of users not wanting to see politics that they disagree with.
This causes some concerns. First of all, many users enjoy political content. Another issue is that some creators on Facebook are niched in politics. What does this mean for their views? And finally, will Facebook use this to filter out posts with certain political affiliations?
This could easily be used as another way to censor deviant conservatives that disagree with Zuckerberg and reduce exposure to such ideologies.
This program will begin in Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia, but the United States is not far behind.