Facebook wanted out of politics. It was messier than anyone expected

wsj

12 min read . Updated: 13 Jan 2023, 12:31 AM IST Jeff Horwitz, The Wall Street Journal

With surveys showing users were tired of strife, the platform began favoring posts that users considered worth their time over ones that merely riled them up, the documents show (Photo: Bloomberg) — With surveys showing users were tired of strife, the platform began favoring posts that users considered worth their time over ones that merely riled them up, the documents show (Photo: Bloomberg)

Hitting mute button on political content recommendations brought unintended consequences, documents show

After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. said it wanted to scale back how much political content it showed users. The company went further than almost anyone knew.