Report: Facebook omitted conservative topics from trending list

[Grim17]

Google, YouTube and now Facebook... This story goes hand in hand with the wide spread intolerance for diverse political and social views, that's swept through colleges and universities across America for the last few decades... and it all emanates from those on the political left. Is it fear, a perpension for dishonesty, or are their beliefs so weak that they feel they have to suppress certain facts and opinions in order to maintain some level of political legitimacy in the eyes of the public?

I don't know about everyone else, but this wide spread political censorship by the left reminds me of the tactics of the old Soviet Union, the Castro regime in Cuba and Chavez and his thugs in Venezuela. Is this the kind of America the progressive movement wants to usher in?

Report: Facebook omitted conservative topics from trending list
By David McCabe - 05/09/16 10:17 AM EDT


Contractors who worked as “curators” for Facebook’s trending topics section, which can bring significant attention to news stories, regularly didn’t include stories trending among political conservatives, according to a Monday report from Gizmodo.


A former curator told Gizmodo that when he or she would log on, they would see that topics popular with conservatives were not included on the list. The contractor, a conservative, speculated that the person running the list “didn’t recognize the news topic” or was biased against a conservative figure involved.
The person said that Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official who has been a in the crosshairs of Republicans for allegedly targeting conservative groups; the Drudge Report; and Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.), who ran for president last year, were among the topics not included on the list.

Report: Facebook omitted conservative topics from trending list | TheHill

Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News
Michael Nunez
Today 9:10am


Facebook workers routinely suppressed news stories of interest to conservative readers from the social network’s influential “trending” news section, according to a former journalist who worked on the project. This individual says that workers prevented stories about the right-wing CPAC gathering, Mitt Romney, Rand Paul, and other conservative topics from appearing in the highly-influential section, even though they were organically trending among the site’s users.


Several former Facebook “news curators,” as they were known internally, also told Gizmodo that they were instructed to artificially “inject” selected stories into the trending news module, even if they weren’t popular enough to warrant inclusion—or in some cases weren’t trending at all. The former curators, all of whom worked as contractors, also said they were directed not to include news about Facebook itself in the trending module.


< snip >


“Depending on who was on shift, things would be blacklisted or trending,” said the former curator. This individual asked to remain anonymous, citing fear of retribution from the company. The former curator is politically conservative, one of a very small handful of curators with such views on the trending team. “I’d come on shift and I’d discover that CPAC or Mitt Romney or Glenn Beck or popular conservative topics wouldn’t be trending because either the curator didn’t recognize the news topic or it was like they had a bias against Ted Cruz.”


The former curator was so troubled by the omissions that they kept a running log of them at the time; this individual provided the notes to Gizmodo. Among the deep-sixed or suppressed topics on the list: former IRS official Lois Lerner, who was accused by Republicans of inappropriately scrutinizing conservative groups; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; popular conservative news aggregator the Drudge Report; Chris Kyle, the former Navy SEAL who was murdered in 2013; and former Fox News contributor Steven Crowder. “I believe it had a chilling effect on conservative news,” the former curator said.


Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News

 

[Erod]

Notice the crickets.

The liberal incursion into all things America has reached the point of absurdity.

Academia, media, the scientific community, the legal system.....it all operates solely on politics and ideology.

America is being transformed into a nation of lies.

 

[Napoleon]

Complaints about a lack of diversity from conservatives? I thought diversity was just political correctness run amok?

 

[Redress]

Gizmodo did two articles on facebook "news" curation process. The first talked about how the process favored reliable sources over unreliable ones. Then one saying conservative sources like Breitbart where lowered in ranking. Put 2 and 2 together and it actually makes alot of sense. Conservative "news" sources have never been known for their reliability, and tend to rely on the gullibility of the average conservative. And the only word for any one who gets their "news" from facebook is gullible.

And you may not have known this, but facebook is a private company. They can do as they please.

 

[Grim17]

When I read this I said to myself "Ya don't say." Not really... It was more of a "par for the course" tidbit of information.

Facebook Manager In Charge of Trending Topics is Max Clinton Donor
Employees of the company have given far more to Clinton than any other candidate
BY: Joe Schoffstall
May 10, 2016 3:48 pm

The person in charge of Facebook’s Trending Topics section, which has come under fire in recent days over accusations that the social media platform deliberately suppressed news articles that were published on conservative websites, is a maximum donor to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

<snip>

Stocky appears to be a major backer of Hillary Clinton. He contributed $2,700 to Hillary for America on October 26, 2015, Federal Election Commission records show. This is the maximum amount that can be given by an individual during a primary.

Stocky is not the only Facebook employee that has given generously to Clinton’s campaign this election cycle.

The Hill reported Tuesday that Facebook employees have given $114,000 in contributions to Clinton’s campaign, far more than any other presidential candidate.

Facebook Mgr In Charge of Trending Topics is Max Clinton Donor

 

[David G]

Claims that the allegations are false --

Is Facebook Suppressing Politically Conservative Content? . News | OPB

 

[Jetboogieman]

Gizmodo did two articles on facebook "news" curation process. The first talked about how the process favored reliable sources over unreliable ones. Then one saying conservative sources like Breitbart where lowered in ranking. Put 2 and 2 together and it actually makes alot of sense. Conservative "news" sources have never been known for their reliability, and tend to rely on the gullibility of the average conservative. And the only word for any one who gets their "news" from facebook is gullible.

And you may not have known this, but facebook is a private company. They can do as they please.

Don't rain on their victim parade Redress.

You know whenever they get to pull out the words "silenced" or "suppressed" they will in some bizarro attempt to make themselves feel the victims of the big meanie liberals.

 

[nota bene]

Unless, of course, it's true that the news is being willfully shaped by excluding some of it, right?

 

[Redress]

Unless, of course, it's true that the news is being willfully shaped by excluding some of it, right?

Even if the Gizmodo reports are true, it is literally nothing different than any other private company determining what content they host.

 

[DA60]

I am neither rep nor dem.

But long before this article, I DESPISED Facebook.

I despise how it operates (monitoring your every, little move) and I have nothing to do with that pathetic organization.

Mark Zuckerberg...intercourse off.

 

[Grand Mal]

Notice the crickets.

The liberal incursion into all things America has reached the point of absurdity.

Academia, media, the scientific community, the legal system.....it all operates solely on politics and ideology.

America is being transformed into a nation of lies.

Conservatives sitting at home complaining about what liberals go out into the world and actually do.
Conservatives wringing their hands because they've voiced their opinions and somebody else hasn't put them into action yet.
Conservatives watching and pointing and complaining about liberals watching and pointing.
Just more of the same from the right whinge.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Google, YouTube and now Facebook... This story goes hand in hand with the wide spread intolerance for diverse political and social views, that's swept through colleges and universities across America for the last few decades... and it all emanates from those on the political left. Is it fear, a perpension for dishonesty, or are their beliefs so weak that they feel they have to suppress certain facts and opinions in order to maintain some level of political legitimacy in the eyes of the public?

I don't know about everyone else, but this wide spread political censorship by the left reminds me of the tactics of the old Soviet Union, the Castro regime in Cuba and Chavez and his thugs in Venezuela. Is this the kind of America the progressive movement wants to usher in?

---Excuse me, Facebook is a corporation, not the government.
They are under NO obligation to do anything they don't like doing.

Secondly, Facebook adjust trends to favor the majority of its USERS, not reflect actual news trends.
The reason for this is ratings.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Conservatives sitting at home complaining about what liberals go out into the world and actually do.
Conservatives wringing their hands because they've voiced their opinions and somebody else hasn't put them into action yet.
Conservatives watching and pointing and complaining about liberals watching and pointing.
Just more of the same from the right whinge.

If I didn't know better I would swear conservatives want some o' dat "big gubmint interference" they claim to hate so much!

 

[Grand Mal]

If I didn't know better I would swear conservatives want some o' dat "big gubmint interference" they claim to hate so much!

They get all smug and sneary about a 'nanny state' but they all love the idea of a 'daddy state', a stern-but-fair authority figure, the stronger the better, that punishes disobedience and rewards good behaviour.

 

[Kal'Stang]

:lamo I find this thread hilarious. All of you pshawwing and dismissing FB doing this..... remember this the next time Fox News releases a biased news report and you go to complain about it. :lamo

As for the OP...you too (and those that support/agree with your stance) need to remember what you just complained about next time you holler about some liberal news media being biased.

Which reminds me.....

 

[Kal'Stang]

Moderator's Warning:

Moved to Bias in the Media section.

 

[Utility Man]

:roll:



Jan 2013

...A group of conservatives is launching their own social networking site after enduring what they call years of censorship and liberal bullying on Facebook. ...
Conservatives Launch Facebook Alternative | Todd Starnes on Radio

http://www.debatepolitics.com/gener...onservatives-launch-facebook-alternative.html

:violin

 

[Kobie]

:roll:



Jan 2013



:violin

I'm sure it will be just as awesome as Conservapedia.

 

[Redress]

:lamo I find this thread hilarious. All of you pshawwing and dismissing FB doing this..... remember this the next time Fox News releases a biased news report and you go to complain about it. :lamo

As for the OP...you too (and those that support/agree with your stance) need to remember what you just complained about next time you holler about some liberal news media being biased.

Which reminds me.....

FOX has every right to report on news as they choose. I don't think you will be able to find an example of me saying otherwise.

 

[Kal'Stang]

FOX has every right to report on news as they choose. I don't think you will be able to find an example of me saying otherwise.

Have you ever criticized them for how they've reported something in a biased way?

 

[Redress]

Have you ever criticized them for how they've reported something in a biased way?

Not that I remember. Their actual news coverage I find to be decent.

 

[Utility Man]

From the OP.....

......workers routinely suppressed news stories of interest to conservative readers from the social network’s influential “trending” news section.......

Interesting, this thread started out in "Breaking News* - Non-MSM" and is now down in "Bias in the Media".

:thinking

 

[Grim17]

---Excuse me, Facebook is a corporation, not the government.
They are under NO obligation to do anything they don't like doing.

a) When did I say, imply, or insinuate that Facebook wasn't a corporation?

b) When did I say, imply, or insinuate that Facebook was under some obligation to do things they don't want to do?

Let me save you the trouble... The answer to both is "I didn't".

I was comparing the actions of the left in recent years, with the actions taken by certain governments of the communist/socialist persuasion. It's a very valid comparison and one I didn't realize needed to be explained needed

Secondly, Facebook adjust trends to favor the majority of its USERS, not reflect actual news trends.
The reason for this is ratings.

Not according to them... But I'm sure you understand their policy better than they do.

.

 

[Grim17]

From the OP.....



Interesting, this thread started out in "Breaking News* - Non-MSM" and is now down in "Bias in the Media".

:thinking

It was breaking news that was covered by CNN, Fox and others. I often see in the breaking news msm section, things that are not msm but remain there... I'll leave it at that.

 

[Zyphlin]

Even if the Gizmodo reports are true, it is literally nothing different than any other private company determining what content they host.

To be fair, this whole section is people on both sides primarily complaining about private companies determining what content they host (and how they host it)