Facebook vows to stay neutral in US presidential poll
18 Apr 2016
Facebook has said that it will not use algorithms to influence voting in the US presidential election this November. A report by Gizmodo shares questions submitted during the company's internal Q&A for employees with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
The report shared a screenshot of an internal poll that Facebook employees were purportedly using to decide what questions to ask Zuckerberg at a meeting in March.
One of the questions submitted was, ''What responsibility does Facebook have to help prevent President Trump in 2017?'' It is speculated that Facebook could downplay stories and posts related to Trump in its News Feed, potentially putting a damper on his campaign.
''I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as 'others','' Zuckerberg said, never referring to Trump by name.
''I hear them calling for blocking free expression, for slowing immigration, for reducing trade, and in some cases, even for cutting access to the internet.''
A Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider, ''Voting is a core value of democracy and we believe that supporting civic participation is an important contribution we can make to the community. We encourage any and all candidates, groups, and voters to use our platform to share their views on the election and debate the issues.''
He stated that Facebook as a company is neutral, and has not and will not, use the products in a way that attempts to influence how people vote.
