GOP Senate Files Inquiry Into Facebook’s Alleged Suppression of Conservative News

After two former Facebook employees told Gizmodo Monday that the site’s curators often kept conservative news and outlets from trending, a Republican-controlled Senate committee sent a letter to Facebook Tueday asking for an explanation.

“This week, the press is reporting claims by former Facebook staffers that employees of Facebook routinely suppressed conservative political viewpoints on the social network,” writes Senate Commerce Committee chairman Senator John Thune. The committee letter, sent to founder Mark Zuckerberg, demands Facebook lay out exactly how it’s news curation system operates.

“If Facebook presents its Trending Topics section as the result of a neutral, objective algorithm, but it is in fact subjective and filtered to support or suppress particular political viewpoints, Facebook’s assertion that it maintains a ‘platform for people and perspectives from across the political spectrum’ misleads the public,” Thune warns.

“Facebook must answer these serious allegations and hold those responsible to account if there has been political bias in the dissemination of trending news,” Thune added in a statement. “Any attempt by a neutral and inclusive social media platform to censor or manipulate political discussion is an abuse of trust and inconsistent with the values of an open Internet.”

[Image via screengrab]
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