Facebook employees request orders on stopping Trump
Company tinkered with 1.9 million news feeds during 2012 presidential election
Published: 10 hours ago
A technology website was given evidence of an internal Facebook poll where employees debated what role the company should play in stopping Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Do you support Trump? Tell the world with this magnetic bumper sticker: “DONALD TRUMPS THE REST”
“What responsibility does Facebook have to prevent President Trump in 2017?” employees asked CEO Mark Zuckerberg on March 4, Gizmodo reported Friday.
Gizmodo noted the seriousness of the charges given Facebook’s 1.04 billion users and its decision to tinker with 1.9 million news feeds during the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
“Most people don’t see Facebook as a media company – an outlet designed to inform us. It doesn’t look like a newspaper, magazine, or news website. But if Facebook decides to tamper with its algorithm – altering what we see – it’s akin to an editor deciding what to run big with on the front page, or what to take a stand on,” the website wrote. “The difference is that readers of traditional media (including the web) can educate themselves about a media company’s political leanings. Media outlets often publish op-eds and editorials, and have a history of how they treat particular stories. Not to mention that Facebook has the potential to reach vastly, vastly more readers than any given publication.”
The revelations come just days after Zuckerberg engaged in a veiled attack on Trump during a conference for developers called F8.
“I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as ‘others.’ I hear them calling for blocking free expression, for slowing immigration, for reducing trade, and in some cases even for cutting access to the Internet,” said Tuesday from San Francisco, California.
image:
http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/03/Trump-punch-TW.jpgGOP front-runner Donald Trump (Photo: Twitter)
GOP front-runner Donald Trump (Photo: Twitter)
An activist group created by Zuckerberg called FWD.us also released an anti-Trump commercial April 1, WND reported. Actors criticized the Republican front-runner and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for promises to restore control along the U.S.-Mexico border and deport illegal immigrants.
Despite Zuckerberg’s public comments and the attack ad by FWD.us, a Facebook spokesman told the Hill on Friday that political bias at the company is a non-issue.
“We encourage any and all candidates, groups, and voters to use our platform to share their views on the election and debate the issues,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We as a company are neutral — we have not and will not use our products in a way that attempts to influence how people vote.”
The spokesperson would not confirm or deny the leaks given to Gizmodo.
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2016/04/facebook-employees-request-orders-on-stopping-trump/#vGlsxLRiTxTtgcY5.99
