Former Republican Senator: Facebook Has "Important Work" to Address Conservative Concerns

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former US Republican senator concluded for a year that Facebook Inc. had "an important job to do to satisfy" the political right that the social media site is against the Conservatives.

The report of former Senator Jon Kyl, released Tuesday, revealed that Facebook had hired dedicated staff to "work with organizations and center leaders". US President Donald Trump and many Republicans in Congress blame various social media companies, technology companies have dismissed the charge.

Some Republicans cite anecdotal examples of what they call unfair treatment of conservative views but provide no evidence of systemic bias against the conservatives. Facebook and other major technology companies have acknowledged errors in dealing with specific content issues.

Facebook spokesman Nick Clegg said in a blog post that the company needs to "take these concerns seriously and adjust its trajectory if our policies actually limit the expression unintentionally."

The Kyl report noted that Facebook had made changes, including more transparent decisions explaining why viewers saw specific posts, making sure that page managers could see the application steps, starting a process of Appeal and creating a new content monitoring committee composed of people with different ideological views.

"We will inevitably make bad calls, some of which may seem to hit the Conservatives harder," Clegg said.

Republican senators have held hearings over the last two years, Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Google's Alphabet Inc. accusing them of bias. Last month, two Republican senators asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate how big tech companies organize content.

Democrats say allegations of bias are unfounded. Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono said in April that "we can not allow the Republican Party to harass technology companies to weaken content moderation policies that are already failing to eliminate hateful, dangerous and misleading content."

The report notes that Facebook's advertising policies prohibit "shocking and sensational content" and that society has always rejected images of "medical tubes connected to the human body".

This has resulted in the rejection of some anti-abortion advertisements. Facebook has revised its policies to ban only ads describing "a person in pain or visible distress or where blood and bruises are visible. This change expands the scope of advocacy available to groups seeking to use previously prohibited images. "

In July, Trump announced plans to hold a meeting with leading social media companies and asked his administration to explore "regulatory and legislative solutions to protect the freedom of expression and the rights of all Americans in Canada. freedom of expression ".