Facebook Tests Downvote Button to Hide Offensive Content
Feature would hide “inappropriate, uncivil, or misleading” comments
Sean Burch | February 9, 2018 @ 8:11 AM
Last Updated: February 9, 2018 @ 8:14 AM
Facebook is testing a downvote button — not to be confused with a dislike button — on comments that rub people the wrong way.
The social network confirmed the test to TechCrunch, saying it’s being initially tested on comments on public Pages. Downvoting will hide comments that are “inappropriate, uncivil, or misleading,” and also provide extra reporting tags like “offensive,” “misleading,” and “off topic.” Facebook made it clear it’s not a dislike button, though — something many users have been calling for for years.
“We are not testing a dislike button. We are exploring a feature for people to give us feedback about comments on public page posts,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch. “This is running for a small set of people in the U.S. only.”
Five percent of Android users in the States have the test running. The downvote isn’t featured on personal pages or the pages of public figures, and there is no timeline for its rollout.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said he wants to promote more “meaningful interactions” on the social network, and has said the News Feed will shift to promoting less viral video and more posts from family and friends. Downvoting offensive comments might lead to more user engagement, but could start another conversation about censorship on the platform.
6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Jeff Bezos – Washington Post
The Amazon founder purchased the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash. President Trump has called the paper the “Amazon Washington Post.”
The Facebook co-founder purchased The New Republic in 2012, becoming executive chairman and publisher. However, he sold the venerable political magazine to Win McCormack in 2016, saying he "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."
The eBay founder is a well-known philanthropist who created First Look Media, a journalism venture behind The Intercept. Inspired by Edward Snowden's leaks. Omidyar teamed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to launch the website “dedicated to the kind of reporting those disclosures required: fearless, adversarial journalism.”
The PayPal co-founder doesn’t own a news organization, but he makes this list because he essentially ended one -- Gawker -- proving once again the power of an angry billionaire. Thiel secretly bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media because he was upset that the website once outed him as gay. Hogan won the defamation lawsuit against the site that sent its parent company into bankruptcy, and Gawker.com is no longer operating.
OK, so Facebook isn’t technically a news organization… yet. However, the company is preparing to launch its much-anticipated lineup of original content later this summer, and there are also signs that it's on the verge of becoming an even bigger media platform.
Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed last week it’s developing a subscription service for publishers willing to post articles directly to Facebook Instant Articles, rather than their native websites.
Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Getty
