Facebook suspends political, new group recommendations ahead of US election
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Facebook Groups are communities that form around shared interests. Public groups can be seen, searched and joined by anyone on Facebook.
Facebook Inc will temporarily halt recommendations for all political groups and any new groups in the run-up to the US presidential election.
Facebook's Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg referred to one of the changes during a Senate hearing on Wednesday, saying: "We have taken the steps to stop recommendations in groups for all political content or social issue groups as a precaution."
The company then confirmed on Friday about the development.
Facebook Groups are communities that form around shared interests. Public groups can be seen, searched and joined by anyone on Facebook.
Ahead of the US vote, several watchdog and advocacy groups have pushed for Facebook to limit algorithmic group recommendations. They have argued that some Facebook Groups have been used as spaces to spread misinformation and organize extremist activity.
Facebook also said that as of Friday morning it was limiting the distribution of the 'save our children' hashtag, because of its connections with the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Social media platforms have been cracking down on content related to the unfounded conspiracy theory, which posits that US President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a global cabal of child-sex predators that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and “deep state” allies.