Name: Facebook’s Post-Election Tweaks Show Zuckerberg Can Curb Misinformation if He Wants
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Facebook’s Post-Election Tweaks Show Zuckerberg Can Curb Misinformation if He Wants

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Early in Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat, as he unleashed a social media deluge of “stolen election” lies and conspiracy theories, Facebook reportedly enacted a series of algorithmic adjustments to combat the spread of misinformation specific to the 2020 race. While its not unheard of for the losing side to cry foul play, the aftermath of Joe Biden’s victory has featured unprecedented levels of conspiratorial denialism. This explosion is surely tied to Trump broadcasting conspiracy theories the second they pop into his brain, using Twitter and Facebook to instantly rile up his supporters as he bounces from one lie to the next. According to The New York Times, Facebook, apparently sensing the inevitable shitstorm that would proceed on Election Day, preemptively changes to what kind of content its algorithm could promote and demote, which was activated—a move that Mark Zuckerberg reportedly signed off on personally—after misinformation began circulating at alarmingly high rates during Trump’s first days of attempting to steal the race.Among these changes, Facebook moved to show users more posts from established and more widely trusted news outlets, meaning that content from organizations like CNN, NPR, and the Times was more likely to appear as users scrolled through their timelines. The site had created an internal metric called “news ecosystem quality” scores, or NEQ, to rank which publishers should be prioritized by Facebook’s algorithm, meaning that posts from mainstream, less partisan media outlets would be more likely to appear on a user’s timeline. On the other side, publishers deemed hyperpartisan or untrustworthy receive lower NEQ scores, like the Trump-friendly Breitbart News or the popular progressive Facebook page Occupy Democrats. They were downgraded by the algorithm, even if those pages are typically highly trafficked.Some Facebook employees welcomed the algorithm change with open arms; the Times reported that during a company meeting held a week after the election, there were calls for making the “nicer news feed” a permanent feature. (It is unclear clear whether or not Facebook is currently maintaining the timeline changes or if it has reverted its algorithm back to its pre-election state). Additionally, in an internal poll conducted by Facebook this month, employees expressed less pride in working for the company than they had in prior years, with only half of the respondents viewing the platform as a net positive for the world.Facebook this month also released the results of “a series of experiments,” the Times noted, where users were asked if they think the platform hosts content that is “good for the world” or if it is creating a space for content that is “bad for the world.” The study found a correlation between posts with high engagement and those that users described as “bad for the world,” which led the company to create an algorithm that finds such posts and downgrades the likelihood that they will appear on users’ timelines. The algorithm was proven to be effective, but led to Facebook users to spend less time on the platform. “The results were good except that it led to a decrease in sessions, which motivated us to try a different approach,” stated an internal summary of the experiment’s results reviewed by the Times.More Great Stories From Vanity Fair— Why Princess Diana’s Still Stings— Inside for Legal Control Over Her Life— Prince Charles Will Wear the Same Royal Wedding Suit — Internet It Girl Poppy Is and Starting Again— Will Watch Herself on The Crown— Can Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Shaman Durek ?— Prince William’s Among the Royals— From the Archive: Tina Brown on Princess Diana, — Not a subscriber? to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.Most Popular is a staff reporter at Vanity Fair based in Washington, D.C. He has been covering media and politics since 2016, previously writing for USA Today and Mediaite before joining V.F. in 2020. A dual citizen of the U.S. and the Philippines who hails from rural South Carolina, he... The freshest-and most essential-updates from Washington, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley.

Early in Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat, as he unleashed a social media deluge of “stolen election” lies and conspiracy theories, Facebook reportedly enacted a series of algorithmic adjustments to combat the spread of misinformation specific to the 2020 race. While its not unheard of for the losing side to cry foul play, the aftermath of Joe Biden’s victory has featured unprecedented levels of conspiratorial denialism. This explosion is surely tied to Trump broadcasting conspiracy theories the second they pop into his brain, using Twitter and Facebook to instantly rile up his...

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Vanity Fair is a monthly magazine of popular culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast in the United States.  The first version of Vanity Fair was published from 1913 to 1936. The imprint was revived in 1983 and currently includes five international editions of the magazine. As of 2018, the Editor-in-Chief is Radhika Jones.

Facebook’s Post-Election Tweaks Show Zuckerberg Can Curb Misinformation if He Wants

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