Leaked Documents Confirm Facebook Deciding Which News Stories Trend

Leaked Documents Confirm Facebook Deciding Which News Stories Trend

by Allum Bokhari 12 May 2016

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/05/12/leaked-documents-confirm-facebook-deciding-which-news-stories-users-see/

Mere days after Tom Stocky, Facebook’s Trending News manager, rejected reports that his subordinates “artificially inject” items into its list of trending news stories, a leak of internal guidelines published in The Guardian show that the company does exactly that.

The document shows that Facebook’s team behaves like a typical Old Media outlet, with editors selecting and approving stories at virtually every stage of the process. The company also keeps a list of 1,000 “trusted” outlets that it uses in its Trending News feature.

The document also instructs staffers to check if a story is headlining on mainstream outlets like CNN, BBC, Fox News, and The New York Times before assigning it “national-level” importance. This is in stark contrast to the company’s outward claim that its Trending News feature merely reflects what’s currently trending among its userbase.

Moreover, editors are given the power to insert new topics into the trending list, provided they pass a particular threshold of popularity. This specifically contradicts a claim by Tom Stocky, the company’s manager of Trending News, who earlier this week said “we do not insert stories artificially into trending topics, and do not instruct our reviewers to do so.”

This follows a week of damaging reports from anonymous sources at the company, who told Gizmodo that members of Facebook’s Trending News feature, which is intended to reflect only the most popular news topics being discussed on Facebook, routinely discriminated against conservative news sources. 

This news is likely to add to the political momentum building against Facebook, which now faces the prospect of a congressional inquiry into political bias at the company. Earlier this week, Republican Senator Jim Thune sent CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter demanding answers on the issue. The RNC has also put out a statement calling on Facebook to address its bias against conservatives.

According to The Guardian, the lesson of the latest leak is clear. Facebook, once the centre of a supposedly people-powered social media revolution, is now starting to behave like a traditional mainstream media outlet. Its news operation is “now akin to a traditional media organization,” says The Guardian. 

In a statement to the newspaper, Facebook vice-president Justin Osofsky maintained that it did not discriminate politically.

The guidelines demonstrate that we have a series of checks and balances in place to help surface the most important popular stories, regardless of where they fall on the ideological spectrum. Facebook does not allow or advise our reviewers to systematically discriminate against sources of any political origin, period. What these guidelines show is that we’ve approached this responsibly and with the goal of creating a high-quality product – in the hopes of delivering a meaningful experience for the people who use our service.

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Erskine B. Bowles is a director at Facebook, a co-chair for the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Note: Paul Ryan is a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives.

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a paid for staff by the Economic Policy Institute.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Economic Policy Institute, and the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, was a member of the Democracy Alliance, and the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Economic Policy Institute, the Urban Institute (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Chris Hughes was a member of the Democracy Alliance, and is a co-founder of Facebook.

Marne L. Levine is a VP at Facebook, and a trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank).

Sheryl K. Sandberg is the COO & director for Facebook, and a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Ann M. Fudge is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and a trustee at the Rockefeller Foundation.

Rockefeller Foundation was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Economic Policy Institute, the Urban Institute (think tank), and the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a paid for staff by the Economic Policy Institute.

Paul Ryan is a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Erskine B. Bowles is a co-chair for the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a director at Facebook, a trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Sean N. Parker Foundation was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Sean Parker is the president of the Sean N. Parker Foundation, a friend of John Perry Barlow, was the president of Facebook, and a contributor for the Americans for Responsible Solutions.

John Perry Barlow is a friend of Sean Parker, and was a lyricist for the Grateful Dead.

Bob Weir is the founder of the Grateful Dead, and a member of the Bohemian Club.

Mickey Hart was a drummer for the Grateful Dead, and is a member of the Bohemian Club.

George H.W. Bush is a member of the Bohemian Club, and a member of the Burning Tree Club.

John A. Boehner is a member of the Burning Tree Club, and was a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Paul Ryan is a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives, and a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a paid for staff by the Economic Policy Institute.

Henry A. Kissinger is a member of the Bohemian Club, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), a friend of Michael R. Bloomberg & Arianna Huffington, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Michael R. Bloomberg is a friend of Henry A. Kissinger, and was a contributor for the Americans for Responsible Solutions.

Americans for Responsible Solutions is a “Gun Safety, Gun Control” PAC for guns.

Sean Parker was a contributor for the Americans for Responsible Solutions, the president of Facebook, is a friend of John Perry Barlow, and the president of the Sean N. Parker Foundation.

Sean N. Parker Foundation was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Entertainment Industry Foundation was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Sherry L. Lansing is the chair, director for the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and a friend of Arianna Huffington.

Arianna Huffington is a friend of Sherry L. Lansing, and a friend of Henry A. Kissinger.

Henry A. Kissinger is a friend of Arianna Huffington & Michael R. Bloomberg, a member of the Bohemian Club, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Bob Weir is a member of the Bohemian Club, and the founder of the Grateful Dead.

John Perry Barlow is was a lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and a friend of Sean Parker.

Sean Parker is a friend of John Perry Barlow, the president of the Sean N. Parker Foundation, was the president of Facebook, and a contributor for the Americans for Responsible Solutions.

Erskine B. Bowles is a director at Facebook, a co-chair for the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Mickey Hart was a drummer for the Grateful Dead, and is a member of the Bohemian Club.

George H.W. Bush is a member of the Bohemian Club, and a member of the Burning Tree Club.

John A. Boehner is a member of the Burning Tree Club, and was a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Paul Ryan is a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives, and a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a paid for staff by the Economic Policy Institute.