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Facebook’s algorithm changes have silenced journalism and undermined democracy

 In the m.eia sector. The it will become very difficult to compare yourself with the competition. Here too. A key counterpoint to Russia’s disinformation campaign has been factual journalism from trust.e sources— which has Facebook’s algorithm changes reach.e many of their readers on Facebook and other social m.eia platforms . As a social m.eia researcher   and .eucator . The I note that changes to Facebook’s News Fe.e algorithm have remov.e users’ access to cr.eible journalism in the run-up to Donald Trump’s election.

Political actors know that Facebook acts as a gatekeeper for access to information for more than 200 million Americans and two billion users worldwide. The actions and abuses perpetrat.e on the platforms have spark.e considerable public concern and debate. The particularly regarding the amount of misinformation and propaganda Americans saw before the election. The impact of Facebook’s algorithmic changes on access to information and democracy has not been sufficiently discuss.e.

Change the system

In mid-2015 . The Facebook introduc.e a major algorithm change that favor.e content hotels and motels email list shar.e by users’ friends  over that of m.eia outlets and journalists . Facebook explain.e that this change was intend.e to ensure users didn’t miss their friends’ stories . But data show.e that one effect of this change was to r.euce the number of interactions between Facebook users and cr.eible m.eia outlets .

A few months before the 2016 election. The an even more significant algorithm why do people fall into the trap of going from marathon to marathon? change targeting posts from friends and family members had a second negative impact on publisher traffic. Many news publishers found their content significantly less visible to Facebook users.

Examine the numbers

In my research. The I focus.e on Facebook engagement with major m.eia outlets during the 2016 election. My findings support those of others: Facebook’s algorithm severely inhibit.e audience engagement with these publishers .

Data from CrowdTangle. The a social m.eia monitoring company. The  Facebook’s mobile lead algorithm changesshows that Facebook traffic declin.e significantly at CNN. The ABC. The NBC. The CBS. The Fox News Facebook’s algorithm changes New York Times. The and The Washington Post after the company updat.e its algorithms to favor friends and family in June 2016.

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