As part of Facebook’s “war on fake news,” this new feature allows sophisticated algorithms to decide which users fall in line with the company’s own private view on ethics and credibility, potentially creating even more problems with distribution and shadow banning.
“We are not interested in talking to you about your traffic and referrals anymore. That is the old world and there is no going back”
Most of the pages affected by the purge appear to be natural health and conspiracy oriented. However, this isn’t stopping the alternative media as the growing popularity of alt-tech sites like Minds are opening the door to less censored distribution of news and commentary.
According to the social media giant, the Trending feed has become “less and less useful” as it only accounts for less than 1.5% of clicks to news outlets and was only available in 5 countries. Instead, they tout the addition of more labeling of news articles as “Breaking News”, “Today In”, and “News Video” from “trustworthy and quality sources.”
As part of an ongoing research and development venture, a project called Building 8 was created to develop technology “in the style of DARPA.”
