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Facebook moves to curb political content. How will this affect Indonesia?
Facebook said the curb was planned in consideration of the “appetite” of its users, after previously finding that most did not want politics to take over their feeds.
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A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken on March 25, 2020. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic)
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acebook is scaling down political content that appears on its users’ feeds in select markets, including Indonesia, as the tech giant continues to acknowledge the impacts of its role on mobilizing political interests.
Last month, Facebook announced plans to start testing the move on a small portion of users in Indonesia, Brazil, Canada and the United States, which would also include a survey that worked to understand users’ preferences for political content over the next few months.
Facebook product management director Aastha Gupta said the tests excluded COVID-19 information from authoritative health organizations like the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization, as well as national and regional health agencies and services from affected countries. Content from official government agencies will also be exempt.
“It’s important to note that we’re not removing political content from Facebook altogether," Gupta said in a recent statement.
Facebook said the curb was planned in consideration of the “appetite” of its users, after previously finding that most did not want politics to take over their feeds.
Data collected last year from American users, for instance, showed that political content made up about 6 percent of what people see on the social platform.
The latest tests in the US began in mid-February, but by that time, Facebook and other Facebook-owned platforms had already been battered by criticism over their alleged promotion of unbalanced views and misinformation during critical moments, including the US elections.
