As part of a storm of recent actions Facebook is taking to prepare for next week’s U.S. presidential election, the social giant has stopped recommending groups focused on political and social issues.
This announcement, made during Mark Zuckerberg’s Senate testimony, comes just one day after Zuckerberg expressed concern of elevated risk of disturbances in the U.S. stemming from the election.
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It’s unclear when Facebook stopped making group political recommendations. A spokesperson for the company told Buzzfeed News the measure is a temporary one. It’s not clear currently how many groups are effected by this change.
Last month Facebook stopped recommending health groups, saying it is crucial people get health information from “authoritative sources.” A similar sentiment to rule changes made earlier this year by YouTube.
The company also said it is limiting the distribution of the “save our children” hashtag because of its connections with QAnon; A conspiracy theory Facebook banned earlier this month. A Facebook spokesperson said that now clicking on #saveourchildren will not show up other instances of its use. And if users search for the hashtag, they will be shown “credible child safety resources”.
Other measures Facebook has taken ahead of what is likely to prove a contentious election, include a moratorium on new political ads (for now), and not allowing candidates to run ads prematurely declaring victory.
A small town girl living in a robots world. But these robots only exist online and don’t look like Gabriel Luna. I cover things relating to AI and cybersecurity, topics that are increasingly converging.
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