Facebook is reportedly using its News Feed in a bid to boost its image.
The New York Times newspaper claimed on Tuesday (21.09.21) that the social network was showing users positive stories about the company as part of Project Amplify, an effort that comes as the social media giant responds to a series of scandals.
The publication reports that Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg signed off the project last month although company spokesman Joe Osborne denied that the network had changed its strategy.
He tweeted: "This is a test for an informational unit clearly marked as coming from Facebook.
"It's not the first of its kind, and is similar to corporate responsibility initiatives people see in other technology and consumer products."
The development comes after Facebook were forced to deny claims that it "wilfully" ignores internal findings if the results are "inconvenient for the company".
The former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who now serves as the head of Facebook's global affairs team, said: "At the heart of this series is an allegation that is just plain false: that Facebook conducts research and then systematically and wilfully ignores it if the findings are inconvenient for the company.
"This impugns the motives and hard work of thousands of researchers, policy experts and engineers at Facebook who strive to improve the quality of our products, and to understand their wider (positive and negative) impact.
"It’s a claim which could only be made by cherry-picking selective quotes from individual pieces of leaked material in a way that presents complex and nuanced issues as if there is only ever one right answer."
Tagged in Nick Clegg Mark Zuckerberg