Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of yet another scandal. After allegedly letting Donald Trump spread misinformation and paying off the FTC, Zuckerberg's newest scandal is censorship.
Reported by The New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg has allegedly signed off on a new initiative called Project Amplify. Project Amplify allegedly manipulates the Facebook News Feed to push users more positive stories about the company. Additionally, this would result in anti-Facebook posts — like this one — to be more hidden.
Mark Zuckerberg agrees to censor negative Facebook stories
The New York Times explains that Project Amplify comes after Facebook’s massive drop in reputation. At the moment, Facebook believes the company is given more scrutiny than Google, Twitter and more.
As a result, Facebook executives reportedly agreed to use the News Feed to advertise Facebook’s positives. Not only would this link to third-party websites promoting “favorable articles about Facebook”, but also articles written by the company.
Project Amplify has been in effect since August. Pro-Facebook posts were tested in three U.S cities; the only sign that these stories are Facebook Approved is a small company logo in the corner. One approved story advertised the composites “Latest Innovations for 2021”.
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Changing Zuck’s reputation
This push comes amid a wave of negative articles about Mark Zuckerberg. In response, Project Amplify will be used to tweak the public image of the Facebook CEO. Reportedly, this push will rebrand the CEO as an innovator while distancing him from past and present scandals.
The planned changes to Zuckerberg’s public image are already underway. Zuckerberg’s personal social media accounts now focus on more personal videos and upcoming tech products. For example, the CEO posted a celebratory 4th July video that saw him riding waves while holding an American flag.
Facebook's push to brand itself and its CEO as the leaders of a future metaverse certainly fits this craved innovator image. In a bid to remove itself from its constantly negative social media decisions, the company is looking elsewhere. However, it may not be possible for the company to continually escape its past mistakes.
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