Facebook politics algorithms overview:
- Who: Researchers from several universities and institutions have released four studies that focused on the effects Facebook algorithms have on the political beliefs of its users.
- Why: The researchers determined Facebook’s algorithms had “no measurable effect” on users.
- Where: Nationwide.
Researchers from several universities and institutions have determined that algorithms used by Facebook do not have a measurable impact on the political beliefs of users of the social media platform.
A total of four studies published last week found that, when some key functions of Facebook’s algorithms were removed, there was “no measurable effect” on the political beliefs of its users, reports the New York Times.
Researchers from Princeton, New York University, and the University of Texas — among other institutions — conducted the studies, including one that examined data from around the time of the 2020 presidential election.
Among the findings, researchers discovered an individual’s knowledge about political news went down in the event they were no longer able to reshare posts on Facebook, but that, at the same time, consumed political news was largely segregated by ideology, reports the New York Times.
Conflicting results from the studies — which were published in the journals Science and Nature — reportedly indicates that it could take years to understand how social media shapes political discourse.
Greater than 97% of news stories marked as false were viewed more by conservative readers, says study
The research determined that more than 97% of links for news stories labeled as false by fact checkers around the time of the 2020 presidential election drew more conservative eyes than liberal ones, reports the New York Times.
Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms announced in August 2020 that it would be willing to participate in the research, meanwhile, with the company reportedly spending $20 million on work by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
The research center — a nonpartisan agency — reportedly aided researchers in their collection of some of the data that was used in the Facebook algorithm studies, reports the New York Times.
Meta, which did not pay any of the studies researchers, was reportedly able to veto any data requests that it determined would violate the privacy of its Facebook users.
In other social media news, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his anti-vaccine nonprofit Children’s Health Defense filed a class action lawsuit earlier this year against dozens of federal officials and agencies over claims they worked together to induce platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google to “censor constitutionally protected free speech.”
Do you believe Facebook’s algorithms have an effect on the political beliefs of its users? Let us know in the comments!
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