SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is seeking to “turn down the temperature” on its sprawling platform by reducing the kind of divisive and inflammatory political talk it has long hosted.
Facebook has been pounded with criticism that it not only hasn’t done enough to curb misinformation and vitriol on its network, but that its algorithm actually tended to encourage such posts because of the attention they grab.
The social media giant will no longer recommend politics-themed groups to users, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday, making permanent a measure put in place during the combative US election won by President Joe Biden.
The Silicon Valley-based internet giant is also working on ways to reduce the amount of political content served up in users’ news feeds by its automated systems.
“We’re still going to enable people to engage in political groups and discussions if they want to,” Zuckerberg said.
But he added the decision to reduce political content in users’ main…