Decoding: Facebook’s Trending Topic Controversy
What's behind the accusations that Facebook is manipulating its "trending topics" feature to promote or suppress certain political perspectives?
According to the technology blog Gizmodo, a former Facebook contractor with self-described conservative leanings said Facebook downplayed news that conservatives are interested in and artificially promoted liberal issues such as the "BlackLivesMatter" hashtag. Gizmodo did not name this person.
Facebook denied the claims, but the GOP-led US Senate Commerce Committee has sent a letter to Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting answers about the matter.
What are 'trending topics'?
Facebook shows some of the most popular topics being discussed at any given moment. On browsers, the topics appear on the top right corner, separate f...