After weeks of suppressing content around the US election, Facebook will now stop recommending users to join “civic and political”. Zuckerberg announced the change in a phone call with investors. It remains unclear what “civic groups” covers, and how the change could affect grassroots campaigning.
The decision follows months of pressure over the spread of misinformation on Facebook. Zuckerberg said Facebook wanted “to make sure the communities people connect with are healthy and positive”.
Facebook groups are often used for legitimate community organizing and grassroots campaigns, however, something Zuckerberg “want[s] to be able to keep happening”.
“But one of the top pieces of feedback we’re hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services,” he added.
Facebook banned more than one million groups in 2020.
