Facebook groups are communities formed around shared interests.
Facebook Inc confirmed on Friday that it is temporarily suspending recommendations for all political groups and any new groups ahead of Tuesday’s US presidential election.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg referred to one of the changes during a Senate hearing on Wednesday, saying: “We have taken the necessary steps to stop group recommendations for all political content or question groups. social security measures as a precaution. “
Facebook groups are communities formed around shared interests. Public groups can be seen, searched and joined by anyone on Facebook.
Before the US vote, several watchdog and rights groups pushed Facebook to limit recommendations from algorithmic groups. They argued that some Facebook groups have been used as spaces to spread disinformation and organize extremist activity.
A Facebook spokeswoman declined to say when the changes were made or how long they will last.
“We will assess when to lift them afterwards, but they are temporary,” she said in an email to Reuters.
Facebook also said that as of Friday morning, it was limiting distribution of the “ save our children ” hashtag, due to its links to QAnon’s conspiracy theory.
Social media platforms have cracked down on content related to the baseless conspiracy theory, which posits that US President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a global cabal of child sex predators that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and allies of the “deep state”.
A Facebook spokesperson said people will still be able to use the hashtag, but clicking on it won’t bring up other examples of its use. If users search for the hashtag, they will be shown “credible resources for child safety,” she said.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
