May 11, 2016 19:00:00

From the "trend" Facebook gathered popular topics, purposely eliminate the content of the conservative system, or an anonymous person who asserts former staff testified

ByMoneyBlogNewz

Some parts of Facebook are provided in English environmenttrendIs a feature that gathers topics and hashtags that are increasingly popular on Facebook. The topic's choice is thought to be purely chosen from popular ones, but anonymous person who identifies Facebook as a former contract employee revealed about that fact, the choice is intentional It is calling ripples because he said that it is eliminating news with content that is less conservative.

CNN.co.jp: Removing maintenance-related news on facebook, testimony of former employee ripple - (1/2)
http://www.cnn.co.jp/tech/35082313.html

Facebook's "trend" is a feature that is available only in some countries in English, and the news which is attracting attention at that time is put together and displayed on the upper right of the page as follows.


This one became widely known from articles published in GIZMODO. The following two articles published on May 3rd and May 9th 2016 report on the actual circumstances of choosing topics and the current status of staff.

Want to Know What Facebook Really Thinks of Journalists? Here's What Happened When It Hired Some.
http://gizmodo.com/want-to-know-what-facebook-really-thinks-of-journalists-1773916117

Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News
http://gizmodo.com/former-facebook-workers-we-routinely-suppressed-conser-1775461006

According to the article, there are plural former staff who said the actual condition on condition of anonymity. Regarding the reason for making himself anonymous, I mentioned the existence of confidentiality obligation, and everyone said that they worked as a contract employee instead of regular employment.

Where the person said, Facebook's topics are picked up first by algorithms that are attracting attention from time to time. As a next step, Facebook staff confirmation is done, but it says that intentional filtering by the staff was carried out here.

On Facebook, teams involved in trends are called 'news curators' and they are doing business to review the topics computer algorithms gather. The reason seems to have been to check for obvious mistakes or mistakes in the content of the topic, but based on articles on conservative media such as "Breitbart", "Washington Examiner", "Newsmax" If it was content it is not adopted as a topic as it is, it is a certain intention to adopt it only when it is confirmed that the major media such as "New York Times", "BBC", "CNN" It was clarified in the article that the operation was being done.

In addition, the former staff seems to be talking about inferior work conditions and work contents compared with regular employees on Facebook, and it is not about work as a news curator about actual circumstances, but " He said he felt it was given the role as a training module.

In response to this report, Tom Stokkey of Facebook investigated and refuted that there is no such fact. Mr. Stokke says that the most commented on Facebook on 2015 was about the presidential election, and that both the conservative and liberal discussions were done.

However, there seems to be a movement that it is impossible to overlook this matter, and Rep. John Suan of the conservative Republican Senator has posted a public question form for Mr. Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook on his site.

Thune Seeks Answers from Facebook on Political Manipulation Allegations - Press Releases - U. S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation
http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=2BA05D9F-EAAD-4043-B195-B8D91FF690B4

Among them, Mr. Suen responds by May 24 regarding "organization concerning the trend function in Facebook, selection process, responsible person", "whether operation by news curator existed" etc. We are seeking to.


As for the trend function, it is also described on Facebook's Japanese site as follows.

How do you decide the trend of topics on Facebook? | Facebook Help Center
https://www.facebook.com/help/737806312958641

Trends recently show popular topics on Facebook. This list has been personalized to display articles that match you based on a number of factors, such as the pages you've liked, the place of residence, what is trending across Facebook.

According to the CNN article mentioned at the beginning, criticism that the IT conservation companies such as Facebook, Twitter and so on were biased towards the liberal system was persistent among American conservatives. Also, former employees covered by CNN Money said that there is room for personal prejudice to work in the trend field.

CNN.co.jp: Maintenance-related news removal on facebook or former employee's testimony ripple - (2/2)

Three former employees of フ ェ イ ス ブ ッ ク, covered by CNNMoney, also testified that personal prejudice might enter the work in the trend field. However, he says that he has never witnessed systematic prejudice against maintenance, and one said, "Regardless of the political opinion, from the company that it is necessary to objectively express what the user is talking about It was an instruction of. "

If it was true that some intentional operation had taken place, that itself is not something that touches the law, but it is said to be incompatible with Facebook's "neutral position" It is going to be. The former staff who made a testimony criticize, "This is not a" trend "at all, it is an" opinion "(opinion / view)).

◆ 2016/5/13
Facebook's Justin Osoowski denied allegations that denying allegations that "excluding certain topics from trends due to the inclusion of arbitrary political elements" is denied, the site used for "trend" generation We have released the list of.

Publish a list of sites Facebook checks for trends - GIGAZINE


◆ 2016/05/16 09: 47 additional notes
There was a comment from CEO Mark Zuckerburg on Facebook, and as a result of the investigation, there was no evidence that the content of conservative system was intentionally eliminated. As we place emphasis on diversity on Facebook, we have established guidelines that intentional prioritization of topics is not allowed, so if actions in violation of the guidelines are confirmed in the future, we will immediately report it to the users, Zuckerberg CEO said. In addition, we will set up a forum for dialogue with political officials in a few days and will hear opinions directly.

Mark Zuckerberg - I want to share some thoughts on the ... ... Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10102830259184701

◆ 2016/05/25 10: 17 additional recording
Facebook's answer to Mr. Soen's open questionnaire has been released. As a result of extensive research such as listening to employees and contractors engaged in trend function by Facebook, feedback from supporters of conservatives, reviewing guidelines, training and practice, topics of trend function are filtered by political bias Evidence was not found.

The company's data analyst said that conservative and liberal topics were approved for trend at an ideal percentage. However, it is not clear that the possibility of unexpected bias and inappropriate behavior occurring in the future can not be excluded in this survey, clarifying the technical terms in the guideline, focusing on not applying political bias It is about improving trend function such as improvement.

Response to Chairman John Thune's letter on Trending Topics | Facebook Newsroom
https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/05/response-to-chairman-john-thunes-letter-on-trending-topics/

Mr. Suen had the opportunity to discuss with the company before Facebook's answer was released, and highly appreciated that Facebook responded appropriately to this case.

Thune Statement on Facebook Response to Questions About "Trending Topics" Bias Allegations - Press Releases - U. S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=EDA7C7FA-CAED-4CD0-8BAB-FD7C4B3139A2

The full text of Facebook's answer to Mr. Soon's open questionnaire can be checked from the following URL.

Facebook-Letter.pdf
(PDF)https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/93a14e98-2443-4d27-bf04-1fc59b8cf2b4/22796A1389F52BE16D225F9A03FB53F8.facebook-letter.pdf