The United States and the international community were in a state of shock on the 6th of January 2021. This is considering how the symbolic seat of America’s democracy was invaded and abused by violent mobs protesting the outcome of the recently concluded presidential election.
While the nation is still taking steps to bring the perpetrators to book and avoid a reoccurrence, the tech giant - Facebook is brooding over how their social media platform can prevent a reoccurrence of such.
Why Facebook Should be Concerned
Although the violent mob headed for the capitol hall immediately after a rally that saw ex-president Donald Trump in attendance, the role of social media platforms like Facebook in aiding the outcome of events has been condemned by the likes of Senator Ed Markey.
The statesman particularly condemned how Facebook recommends political groups to users. He stressed that such actions by the social media platform created a “breeding grounds for hate, echo-chambers of misinformation, and venues for coordination of violence, including explicit planning for the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.”
How Facebook Is Reacting with New Intended Laws
In light of the situation and condemnation from various quarters, Mark Zuckerberg has explained that the tech giant is doing all to reduce the impact of political discussions on their platform.
While inferring that people have a right to their political views and can learn constructively from political discussions on their platform, the company will turn down the heat.
He stated that one major way they will go about this is by stopping the recommendation of political groups to users of their platform.
He explained this during Facebook’s fourth-quarter earnings call when he explained that “one of the top pieces of feedback we were hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services.”
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