Social media giant Facebook on Friday announced that it was removing its “Trending” feature to make way for “future news experiences”. The company said it would prioritise ensuring that the news content is trustworthy and from quality sources.
“We have seen that the way people consume news on Facebook is changing to be primarily on mobile and increasingly through news video,” Facebook said in a statement. “So we are exploring new ways to help people stay informed about timely, breaking news that matters to them.”
The company said that it was testing a “Breaking News” indicator, a localised section called Today In that connects people to the latest breaking and important news from local publishers, officials and organisations. Facebook said it would soon launch a news video section on Facebook Watch in the United States where people can view live coverage and daily news briefings.
In May, Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg apologised to the European Parliament for a data breach scandal and for failing to control fake news on the social media platform.
In 2016, the company was criticised for blocking posts including those about a Californian rapist and pages of Palestinian journalists, removing a video of environmental protestors, banning a Black Lives Matter activist and deleting the profile of a Chicagoan artist, The Guardian reported.
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