Skip to content
The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

Title

Name

Primary Menu
  • Home
  • Mindanao
  • Visayas
  • National
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • International
  • SciTech
  • Health & Wellness
  • Sports
  • About Us
    • Regional Advertising Rates
    • Contact Us
    • Profile
  • Home
  • International
  • Mark Zuckerberg says many conservatives don’t trust Facebook to show ‘content without a political bias’ – LA Times
  • Featured
  • International
  • Technology

Mark Zuckerberg says many conservatives don’t trust Facebook to show ‘content without a political bias’ – LA Times

Editor May 19, 2016

As Facebook has taken on the mantle of content distributor, news publisher and story curator, the world’s biggest social media company has ventured into the territory of traditional media companies.

Such moves have helped Facebook attract users and advertising dollars — but they have also invited scrutiny more common in the news business than in tech.

Now, facing accusations of editorial bias at his company, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerbergmust play a role familiar for publishers: hashing things out with vocal critics.

On Wednesday afternoon, Zuckerberg met with around 15 conservative leaders, includingGlenn Beck, a television personality and radio host; Dana Perino, co-host of “The Five” onFox News Channel; Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute; and Barry Bennett, senior advisor to the Donald Trump campaign.

The meeting came after the tech news site Gizmodo reported that former contractors who ran Facebook’s “trending topics” feature downplayed news from conservative outlets and about conservative topics.

Zuckerberg did not publicly lay out an agenda before the meeting, but he said on his Facebook page that he wanted “to have a direct conversation about what Facebook stands for and how we can be sure our platform stays as open as possible.”

Zuckerberg said the company is conducting a full investigation into the allegations, but has so far “found no evidence that this report is true.”

He took to Facebook again after the meeting to emphasize that conservatives and Republicans have always been important demographics for Facebook. The bias allegations, he said, have likely shaken their trust of his company.

“I know many conservatives don’t trust that our platform surfaces content without a political bias,” he wrote. “I wanted to hear their concerns personally and have an open conversation about how we can build trust. I want to do everything I can to make sure our teams uphold the integrity of our products.”

Attendee Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, described the gathering as productive and cordial.

“I think Facebook understands there is a problem,” Bozell said in a statement. “And I think that from the very top there is a genuine desire to resolve it. We’ll see how the investigation turns out.”

A Facebook spokesman confirmed that the meeting involved a discussion about trending topics, a training session to help participants use the social network to engage their audiences, a demonstration of the company’s Oculus Rift virtual reality device and a tour of Facebook’s Menlo Park, Calif., campus.

The meeting was important for Zuckerberg and for Facebook, said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst of Moor Insights and Strategy, because the last thing he can afford to do is alienate conservative users.

“It would be devastating if conservative users left for a competing platform, or stopped using it because they felt it was biased toward them,” Moorhead said.

Although Facebook’s stock price has soared as the company has recorded high profits and continued growth of its user base, Moorhead believes that the firm could suffer if conservative users strayed.

“Look at what happened to CNN when Fox was created,” Moorhead said. “Fox has swept cable news for at least the last five years. I believe Zuckerberg will do everything in his power to convince them [that Facebook] isn’t biased.”

Winning over conservative leaders may not be enough in the long run, though, warned Mark Bartholomew, a law professor at the University at Buffalo who believes that Facebook should be held to the same standard as traditional media.

A letter the Senate Commerce Committee sent to Zuckerberg inquiring about the bias allegations could be a good start, he said. “It is an attempt to open the ‘black box’ currently clouding more of Facebook’s decisions about what content reaches us.”He also said there needs to be greater public awareness that Facebook is not a neutral platform.

“The more we think about Facebook as a business run by people with their own biases and motivations and not simply a neutral conduit for information, the better,” he said.(Tracey Lien)

Link: http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-facebook-conservative-leaders-20160517-snap-story.html

 

 

fb-share-icon
Tweet 20

Continue Reading

Previous: Suzuki violates fuel economy test rules – The Japan News
Next: Kidnappers free man, hold on to grandpa in Zamboanga

Related News

Dmitry-Medvedev
  • International

Russian official claims nations ready to supply Iran with nuclear weapons

Editor June 23, 2025
Iran-Nuclear-Sites-target
  • International

Nuclear watchdog condemns US attack on Iranian nuclear sites as ‘illegal’

Editor June 23, 2025
KA-GO-Cordless-Food-Chopper
  • Business
  • Technology

The New KitchenAid® Go™ Cordless System brings Freedom to the Kithchen

Editor June 17, 2025

Trending News

Russian official claims nations ready to supply Iran with nuclear weapons Dmitry-Medvedev 1
  • International

Russian official claims nations ready to supply Iran with nuclear weapons

June 23, 2025
Nuclear watchdog condemns US attack on Iranian nuclear sites as ‘illegal’ Iran-Nuclear-Sites-target 2
  • International

Nuclear watchdog condemns US attack on Iranian nuclear sites as ‘illegal’

June 23, 2025
PH gov’t hits country’s ‘false ranking’ as least safe for travelers Christina-Frasco-Dot 3
  • National
  • Tourism

PH gov’t hits country’s ‘false ranking’ as least safe for travelers

June 19, 2025
PhilHealth’s New Benefits for Post-Kidney Transplantation Services PhilHealth-Artcard 4
  • Health
  • National

PhilHealth’s New Benefits for Post-Kidney Transplantation Services

June 19, 2025
How a Teacher is Cultivating the Future of Agriculture, One Batch of Scholars at a Time JeromeMabaso_ JGF-1 5
  • Business

How a Teacher is Cultivating the Future of Agriculture, One Batch of Scholars at a Time

June 19, 2025
  • Facebook
  • X
  • YouTube
  • Blog
Copyright © 2025. The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper. All Rights Reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.